Title: Mountains
Characters: Jack with mentions of Ianto and the team.
Summary: Jack and his aversion to mountains... of paperwork.
Word Count: 777
Rating: Pg
Spoilers: General Spoilers
Disclaimer: Torchwood doesn't belong to me but the BBC, I'm just borrowing.
Author's notes: Written for the tw_lucky_7 challenge involving the second prompt sloth and the character Jack.
Jack sighed staring at the never-ending mountain in front of him, no matter how much effort he put in there was never an end in sight; it was almost as if it was growing. He studiously ignored the mountain and his complete lack of progress, instead taking the opportunity to look around and take in the view. His team were all in similar positions to him, or the majority of the team, Ianto appeared to be having no problems whatsoever. He couldn't help but noticed that they were so much further ahead than he was, and he knew that they would be gone long before he was. Owen it seemed had won, coming in first, or so he had thought. Ianto said something to the other man who let out a loud curse, the words carrying in the air unlike those of the quiet Welshman, before diving back towards the mountain to sign off on something, then zipping up his leather jacket he took off as if the hounds of hell were on his heels, probably trying to escape Ianto's perfectionism. Tosh pushed her glasses up her nose, Gwen roughly shoving her hair out of her face, as they came a joint second, meaning that Jack was last, they left almost as soon as they had double checked everything with Ianto.
He watched his Welshman walk around the hub picking up the teams completed paperwork, and making his way towards his office. It was only as he started to climb the stairs that Jack realised that he would be in the office in just a moment and he'd be able to see just how little Jack had done. He quickly turned his attention back to the mountain in front of him, trying his hardest to be interested by the boring financials that his lover was insisting he work his way through. It wasn't a job he relished, and really even as the leader of Torchwood three he didn't see the financial side of things as being in his purview, it was something that Ianto normally dealt with, but it appeared that the other man was tired of doing the majority of the administrative tasks within Torchwood. The numbers on the page in front of him all blurring together with his inattention, not making any sense to him at all.
The door opened, allowing Jack to look up from his boring task, knowing that it was Ianto as the others were gone he smiled up at him, the smile reserved solely for the other man. He stared as Ianto walked towards him, taking the seat opposite him, loosening his tie a bit before speaking, "Finished?"
Jack couldn't reply, the loosening of Ianto's tie had revealed the purpling mark that he had made on the other man earlier that morning, and was now suitably distracting him. Ianto coughed, startling Jack and reminding him that Ianto was actually with him in the room, and that there was no need to indulge in earlier memories of the man, when he had him in the flesh. He came out of his memories pretty quickly, only to find that the man was now standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at the reports that Jack was supposed to have been working his way through. He heard the small sigh that escaped his lover and knew that the other man was not impressed that he was ignoring his work once again. Deciding that it would be better to get in first, before Ianto could start to berate him, he started to explain why he'd been ignoring the paperwork.
"I did try, honest." He started, his face a picture of sincerity, one that was completely truthful. "I couldn't do it though, they were so dry and they just seem so unimportant to the grand scheme of things."
At Ianto's pointed look, the one that told him that he'd explained why his paperwork was important many times, he exhaled before trying flattery. "Okay, I don't understand it like you do, and I didn't want to have to completely redo them as I wanted to spend some time with you, not with my paperwork."
"Liar," Ianto replied, the amusement could be heard in his voice, "You're just a sloth, Jack. You hate paperwork and find it boring, which then turns to laziness, something that is so much fun to draw you out off." He handed Jack his greatcoat, leaving the office with a quick a pace, hips swaying as he went. Jack was left staring for a moment before realising what he was doing, following the Welshman out the door, draw him out of his laziness indeed.