History of the Coffee
Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish I did own, but, sadly, I do not.
Summary: Jack and Annabelle the people who taught Ianto how to make coffee. Ianto/Jack. Forty-first in the "Immortal Janto" series.
I would like to dedicate this story to Omamori, whose been going back and forth with me for the last few weeks and reminded me why I love being a total fangirl! I hope you find some Red Vines soon.
Just a little something that popped into my head while I was writing the last story. I mean, come on! We need a backstory about why Ianto's coffee is so good. That's one of the great unsolved mysteries of Torchwood (in my mind). Why is the coffee so good?
Annabelle is eighteen in this story, though this story follows "Old Time Memories" pretty closely and takes place in 2016.
Author's Note: Jorkins has (with my permission) put my stories onto a website dedicated to Ianto Jones. I've put the link into my profile, so you should all go check out that website, especially if you love Ianto Jones! Once you finish reading this story and reviewing, go and check it out! It looks really good.
Anyway, here's my reasoning for Ianto's coffee.
The shop was quaint and charming, cozy in a way that wasn't too overbearing. It felt something like home, which wasn't typical of most of the coffee shops that Jack had been to in his many years. But, as he walked into the store and breathed in the comforting aroma of coffee and treats, he felt the connection to Ianto's past. It wasn't a busy afternoon, a school day and most people at work. Snow was falling lightly outside, a clear sign of the winter ahead, though, inside, the cold wasn't a question.
Ever since he had gotten Ianto back, Jack had been glad that they were such good friends with the Doctor because, even for this one afternoon, they were able to find closure.
Jack knew, all too well, how immortality would hurt, especially when loved ones died off and they were left behind. True, it would be easier for the both of them, now that they had each other, but Jack felt his heart ache, knowing that Ianto still had grim years ahead of him. He hoped that Ianto would never become the jaded and distant person that Jack had been for more years than he cared to think about. He would do everything in his power to keep Ianto from going down that road because it was too easy, too tempting, and too dark.
And he knew that Ianto was a good person at his core.
Still, as he sauntered up to the counter, a comfortable grin on his face, Annabelle at his side, Jack eyed up the older woman behind the counter. He brushed the last few flakes of snow off of his greatcoat, while Annabelle merely grinned in pride. Briefly, Jack wondered how she had managed to figure out a way of keeping snow from settling on her duster. It had to be the TARDIS, he concluded. The old girl was particularly fond of her surrogate niece.
From the pictures that Ianto had showed him, this had to be Winifred. The care-worn age lines creased her face, giving her a distinguished appearance. Laugh lines only heightened the classic beauty of the woman. She must have been a total knock-out in her youth, though Jack still found himself appreciating her beauty.
"What can I do for you, dearies?" she asked, smiling genuinely at them, her Welsh accent lilting.
Jack chuckled. "We'd like to order three cups of your house coffee. It comes highly recommended."
"And muffins!" Annabelle added, grinning. Oh, she was Jack's daughter and had inherited his sweet tooth. "Two blueberry and a chocolate chip. Tad says that these are the best muffins in all of Wales."
Winifred blushed a tiny bit as she rang them up. "Well I'm glad that I made an impression." She looked between the two of them. "Will someone be joining you soon?"
"Yep," Jack replied, handing over the appropriate funds for their food. "Ianto's running a little late. He had to make a few calls."
He saw how Winifred tilted her head to the side at the mention of Ianto. She must have made a few connections, but she didn't say anything. Jack gave her a word of thanks as he and Annabelle moved over to a table by the bay window to wait on their order, from where he could watch both the door and Winifred as she busied herself, calling instruction to her husband and the few others who were working in the store.
A few minutes later, Ianto came bustling in, brushing flakes of snow off of his coat. He looked over and spotted Jack and Annabelle, a smile on his face. A few naughty thoughts shot through Jack's brain about all of the things that they could do in the snow. However, he was forcibly removed from said happy thoughts by a swift kick to his shin, delivered by (none other than) Annabelle.
The knowing look she gave him was pure Ianto, even down to the little disapproving eye-roll.
Ianto slid into the free seat next to Jack. He looked over at Winifred, who was deeply engrossed in her work. Jack saw a fond smile cross his face.
"This place hasn't changed much," Ianto mused, out loud.
"I bet you had a blast working here, Tad," Annabelle commented. She smiled at him, choosing her words carefully, knowing the cover story that they had to adopt whenever they traveled back in time. "What was it like, back then?"
"After school lets out, this place would fill up," Ianto said. "Everyone wanted caffeine and sweets after class, not that I could blame them. Winifred's coffee is amazing and she's so sweet. Albert, her husband, makes some of the best treats imaginable."
Jack took Ianto's hand and squeezed. He heard the quiet remorse in Ianto's voice. "They seemed to have rubbed off on you and, for that, the rest of us are grateful."
Just then, Winifred appeared, carrying a tray with their coffee. Behind them, an older man, who could only be Albert, her husband, had their muffins. Ianto looked up at them and smiled.
"Ianto Jones," Winifred exclaimed happily, putting the tray down on the table, "you should know better than to sneak in without saying anything."
Ianto stood up to embrace her. "I was waiting to surprise you, Winifred, Albert," he said. Albert delivered the muffins and followed his wife in hugging Ianto. "It's so nice to see you two."
"And you, my boy," Albert said. The man looked at his wife, who nodded. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll get us muffins and we'll join you. The staff can do without us for a little while." Albert looked between Jack and Annabelle. "That is, if your company doesn't mind putting up with some old-timers like us."
"You're hardly old-timers," Jack commented, grinning. "Besides, Ianto's told us so much about you."
Winifred laughed as she pulled up two chairs to the table. A minute later, Albert had returned with two muffins – lemon and raspberry – and two cups of coffee.
"Now, why don't you introduce us and I'll forgive your absent manners, Ianto," Winifred prompted, as Albert sat down, laughter in her voice and a little twinkle of familiar pride in her eyes.
The smile on Ianto's face was so rewarding.
"Of course, Winifred, Albert, I would like you to meet Captain Jack Harkness, my husband, and our daughter, Annabelle." Ianto laid his hand on Jack's in a quiet, yet loving (and slightly possessive, if Jack had any opinion on the matter) way. "Jack, Annabelle, as you've probably guessed, this is Winifred and Albert, owners and proprietors of the shop and my mentors in many ways."
"Including the making of delicious coffee," Jack said, before taking a sip of his coffee, as if to emphasize his point. Seconds later, his eyes widened in awe and he looked at Ianto. This coffee was good. There was something about it that was very familiar and very comforting, something that he knew so well from Ianto's coffee, but it had a little hint of something extra that made it different, made it unique and different from Ianto's coffee. "You weren't kidding, Yan. This is amazing!"
Ianto rolled his eyes. "I've told you this before, but do you listen?"
Jack cheekily shook his head, grinning. "Sometimes, though everyone knows that I love your coffee."
"More than you should, Dad," Annabelle replied, dryly. She looked at Winifred and Albert, her eyes sparkling with humor and wisdom beyond her years. "I apologize for Dad. He's a small child sometimes."
Albert chuckled and looked over at Ianto. There was a knowing look in his eyes. "Then he's a good balance for you then, Ianto. You always were too quiet and reserved, back when you were in school."
Jack saw Ianto flush in that adorably humble way of his.
"I've done a lot of growing since then."
There was a bit of a laugh in Ianto's voice and Jack knew that he had intended for the subtle innuendo to be taken as such. It was only because they were with two old friends and mentors that Jack refrained from making the comment he so wanted to make.
"I have to ask, if you don't mind me asking," Winifred said, "you both look so young to have such a grown-up daughter."
Jack met Ianto's eyes. He was so glad for Ianto's foresight and planning.
"They adopted me," Annabelle explained, falling into the cover story that they had rehearsed and perfected. "My parents were killed in the line of duty for the Crown. I was very young when they took me in and they've raised me as their own daughter ever since." She smiled at both Jack and Ianto, her love shining through. "They're the best fathers a girl like me could ask for."
Her words were sincere and Ianto leaned over to press a kiss against the side of her head.
"We love you too, little angel."
Jack felt his heart swell with love at the pure sweetness of the interaction between father and daughter. He saw both Albert and Winifred smile genuinely at that little gesture.
"You know, Ianto, I never expected you to be the type to marry a man," Albert commented pensively, a moment later. "Never expected you to be into men either."
Ianto grinned, clearly remembering an old conversation he had once had with his older sister.
"Not men, just Jack. Besides, Jack and I had our rough patches before we got to a place where we were both happy and comfortable. It was a hard road, but the saying, 'Love conquers all,' applies to us."
Memories raced through Jack's mind. He looked at Albert and Winifrend, giving them a dead serious look, despite the smile on his lips.
"On behalf of everyone who's ever been fed or caffeinated by Ianto," Jack said, with all sincerity and gravity, "I will have to thank you both. He's the reason that we were able to pull long nights at work. His coffee is legendary among our friends and colleagues for being some of the best in the known universe."
"Not the best, Jack," Ianto argued. He lifted his cup. "This is the best coffee in the known universe. Winifred and Albert are the standards and I merely attempt to copy."
"Boys!" Winifred exclaimed, as if sensing that this conversation could very well escalate. Both Ianto and Jack looked at her. "No arguing or your coffee will be revoked."
Jack's jaw dropped in shock and he looked at Ianto.
"Everything about you makes so much more sense now, Yan." He was totally amazed. At the two confused looks, Jack elaborated, "Ianto sometimes holds the threat of revoking coffee over our heads in order to motivate us to work harder. The first few years that I knew him, he had everyone we worked with whipped since he was the only one who could actually get the coffee machine to work. Even now, I'm only allowed to use the coffee machine under his or Annabelle's supervision."
"And with good reason, Dad," Annabelle added. "You broke the last three."
"Not my fault!"
"You got decaf for a week each time," Ianto reminded him.
Jack chuckled at the memory. "Oh. Right." He ate a piece of his muffin. "Ianto, admit it, you can be cruel and unusual when you want to be."
"Only when it's deserved or if I'm feeling sick. The coffee suffered that time I got the flu and you refused to let me do anything other than the bare minimal until I recovered," Ianto commented. That had been an interesting week, watching as Tosh, Owen, and Gwen grudgingly accepted Ianto's less-than-godly coffee, knowing that it was still far better than instant or Starbucks. "Besides, you remember the ten days of instant after Owen destroyed the cataloguing system that I had been working on creating, simply because he was having a bad day."
That memory made Jack cringe.
He looked at Winifred and Albert. "You have to realize, during the first few years that I knew Ianto, all he had to do was threaten decaf or instant and everyone at our work would fall in line because we love Ianto and his coffee way more than we reasonably should. Still do, come to think of it. Though, after those ten God-awful days of instant, Owen was never allowed into the archives again without supervision."
"I'll believe it," Albert said, with a laugh. "That seems like something you would do, Ianto."
Winifred sipped her coffee for a moment, studying Jack. He saw how her eyes flicked over his greatcoat, assessing him not as a male, but as the person who was clearly one of the most important things in Ianto's life. After a few moments, she looked to Ianto.
"Where did you find him, Ianto?" she asked, clearly meaning Jack. Ianto had seen her assessment of him too.
Ianto started to laugh.
"In a cupboard. Under some stairs."
"With some Red Vines."
All eyes went to Annabelle, who looked back at them over her coffee cup with wide eyes. She shook her head and huffed indignantly.
The young woman sighed dramatically, knowing that she had lost everyone except Ianto, who understood because, well, he's Ianto and Jack had learned long ago to accept that fact that Ianto knew everything. Annabelle shook her head, clearly a bit sad that Jack hadn't picked up on her cultural reference. He made a mental note to ask her and Ianto about it later, back in the quiet of the TARDIS.
"Regardless," Winifred said, with a little laugh, "it's good to see you, Ianto. We always expected you to do great things, though I was sad when you went to work for the government." She shook her head. "You had such great plans to open your own shop one day."
That was the second time Jack heard someone mention Ianto's "great plan" for a shop of his own. He didn't say anything but, based on the look in Ianto's eyes, he knew that there was sadness and regret there. He made a silent promise to himself to talk to the Welshman about it later, when they were alone.
"There's still time, Tad. You can still get it up and running."
Annabelle's voice was bright and hopeful and, for that, Jack was grateful. She had seen the darkness creeping into Ianto's eyes as plain as Jack had.
"Maybe," Ianto replied quietly. He took a drink of his coffee, judging it for a moment. "Is this a new blend?"
Winifred nodded. "Picked it up a few years ago from this company that sent us a free sample." She was pensive for a moment. "It's an interesting blend, but a lot of people like it. The company we buy it from has become quite well-known in the last year or so." She turned to her husband. "What's the company again, Albert?"
"I. J. H. Plantations, Inc.," Albert replied. "Out of the blue, a few years back, they sent us free samples of some of their products." He saw their questioning looks. "It's this coffee and tea company and all of our customers seem to like the blends we get from them. No one really knows much about the company, but they have the oddest logo – a pteradactyl, or something like that, if I remember."
Jack and Ianto shared a look. This was an . . . interesting and odd turn of events and definitely warranted further investigation on their part.
"Blend we use most often in the shop is called the Industrial Strength Roast." Winifred sighed. "Odd name, don't you think? But the company has all sorts of odd blends that can be ordered."
Jack took another sip of his coffee.
Oh yes, he could really tell the Ianto-ness in the coffee, though there was that touch to it, that was different. But still, as he swallowed, he gave a secret smile to Ianto.
Time travel was a beautiful thing, if he said so himself.
As the conversation turned away from coffee companies and onto lighter topics, Jack knew what their new project was going to be. If they had immortality in front of them, then what better way to start out than researching a coffee company that bore a striking resemblance to their lives.
Still, as Jack watched how Ianto interacted with Winifred and Albert, he felt a surge of affection to the older couple.
They might not realize how great their influence on and teaching of Ianto had shaped the future of the planet for the better. And, in a very personal thought, he hoped that they realized that their coffee-making lessons paid off – because one of the reasons why Jack had really considered hiring Ianto in the first place was all due to that one amazing cup of coffee that had been offered to him.
After all, he had known that there was some story behind the coffee.
Okay, that's it. End of the story. What do you think? Like? Let me know! Reviews are love and butterfly kisses. Please revew!
Also, check out the link on my profile to Jorkins' website.
And, as always, I will do my absolute best to get the next story up as soon as I possibly can.