Toshiko had her head down as she entered the hub, reading something on her phone, so didn't see the new sofa until she was in front of it. She stared in disbelief at it. It wasn't that it was horrible. In fact, it looked lovely and comfy and was a lovely shade of maroon.

"What do you think?"

Tosh looked round to see Jack leaning on the door frame looking quite pleased.

"Ianto and I chose it."

"It's lovely," she said a little too quickly, wondering when the two men had reached the 'picking out furniture' stage of their relationship. "I'm sure it'll be very comfortable."

She turned to her workstation, trying to decide whether she like the sofa or not.

Thirty minutes later, Owen arrived and clocked it. He stood with his arms folded as he stared in slight disgust. He really didn't like it.

"Why've we got that?" he asked Ianto, who was emerging from the kitchenette. "What was wrong with the old one?"

"It was ancient." Ianto replied.

"Hey!" Jack protested.

"Not that there's anything wrong with being old," the Welshman placated the Captain. "However, most of the springs had gone. The stuffing was coming out and it was covered in dubious stains. Also, due to years of fast food falling into it, there were probably new and wondrous life forms growing in it."

"Ooooohh, that's lovely," cooed Gwen as she came in. "It's about time we got rid of the manky old one."

"I'm glad someone likes it, anyone for coffee?"

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

It had been a long day for the team. They'd been given the run-around by a group of sightseeing aliens, who were not keen to leave. Once they'd been sent packing, Ianto ordered the pizzas and they soon found themselves sitting on, and around, the new item of furniture. Ianto was not happy, despite everyone's promises not to drop any food. He was sitting between Gwen and Tosh on the sofa. Jack opted for Owen's computer chair, while the medic himself opted for the floor.

"This sofa looks nice," Gwen commented, "but it doesn't feel right."

"I know what you mean," Tosh replied, shuffling slightly "I knew exactly how to sit on the other one to be absolutely comfortable."

"Those cushions saw me through many hangovers." Owen added, almost wistfully. "I could rely on them not to smother me."

"So I can add your drool to the list of mysterious stains?" Ianto mumbled.

"I remember when we first got it," Jack chimed in, his voice muffled by the ridiculous amount of pizza he had stuffed in his mouth. "It was 1989. Up until then, we made do with office chairs. Eventually, Alex decided we needed somewhere to collapse after a particularly difficult mission."

"So you got a sofa?" scoffed Owen. "This place is huge. Have you never thought of maybe making a bunk room?"

"Yeah, we did." Jack conceded. "We just never got around to it."

They sat in silence for a while until Gwen suddenly started giggling.

"After I brought Rhys here," she explained, in answer to their puzzled looks, "he asked me why we had the best technology money can buy, but only had one shitty sofa."

They all laughed and nodded at the truth of it.

"Well, now we've got a new one." Ianto pointed out. He was disappointed the new sofa wasn't being received as well as he'd hoped.

"Although…" he started to say, before closing his mouth and looking away.

"Although what?" Gwen prompted.

"It's nothing."

"Go on, Yan," coaxed Jack. "What are you thinking about?"

"It was after the cannibals," the Welshman finally said, a blush starting to colour his cheeks. "I was still hurting from Lisa, and then a sick bastard beat the shit out of me. I couldn't face going home so I came here. Jack sat with me, just holding me until I went to sleep."

Ianto couldn't look at any of his colleagues following his unusually candid confession. They rarely heard Ianto acknowledge his hurt. Jack leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of his lover's head. Gwen and Tosh both said 'aaawwww' at the kiss. Owen wanted to make a snarky comment but, even he found himself caught up in the emotion of the moment.

"So," the medic suddenly proclaimed, breaking the awkwardness, "do we like this new sofa then?"

Ianto looked around the group. It was clear from their conversation that they all preferred the old sofa.

"I'll bring it back tomorrow."

The End.