Title: Acts of Friendship
Summary: Every once in a while, when he least expected it, Ianto Jones would look up from his work to find Toshiko Sato standing there with a sweet smile and a cup of coffee that she had brought for him.
Rating: PG
Warnings: A reference to a canon minor character death.
Characters: Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato
Word Count: 400
Spoilers: Vague references to Cyberwoman as well as a deleted scene from Cyberwoman.
Beta: Thank you to czarina_kitty for the beta, and to thesteppyone for the beta/britpick. Any remaining errors are my own.
Author's Notes: This is a follow-up to my story Any Other Day but it can easily stand alone. This is the second story that I have written for my newly created Coffee Trilogy, and as can assumed by the name, I have one more story planned for this verse.
Acts of Friendship
It wasn't a regular occurrence.
There was no particular pattern to it that he could use to predict when it might happen. It wasn't daily, or weekly, or monthly. It never seemed to be connected to his state of mind. It happened during moments when he was feeling perfectly happy, as well as on occasions when he was devastatingly sad. It was not intended to be a reward for anything he might have done, nor was it done out of guilt for offenses long since past.
It was a simple act of kindness…an act of friendship. Nothing more, nothing less.
So, every once in a while, when he least expected it, Ianto Jones would look up from his work to find Toshiko Sato standing there with a sweet smile and a cup of coffee that she had brought for him.
The coffee was always terrible- over roasted beans with a bitter aftertaste, and fixed with far too much sugar, which did nothing to disguise that fact. Ianto never had the heart to tell Tosh that he didn't like it. Besides, the truth was, in a strange way, he'd actually begun to treasure those horrible cups of coffee.
Every time Tosh appeared with a cup, his heart would warm, just as it had every single time since that first cup appeared the day after Lisa died. So, whenever it happened, Ianto would smile and thank her. He would drink, and actually enjoy every drop of the dreadful beverage as he chatted pleasantly with Tosh.
Then later, once they'd parted, Ianto would smile happily to himself in the knowledge that someday soon, when she least expected it, Tosh would find a special treat left on her desk. Nothing fancy, just something for her to enjoy. It might be one of those flaky pastries she liked, some fresh fruit, or perhaps maybe this time a book. But there was no hurry. When the time came, Ianto would know exactly what to get to make Tosh smile.
There was nothing extraordinary, in these exchanges. There was no hidden meaning, or ulterior motives disguised behind each act. It wasn't a form of flirtation, or a longing for anything more. It was simply the kind of thing that, on occasion, friends would do for each other.
It was what it was. Nothing more, nothing less, and that is precisely what made it so special.
