Tosh set the a cup of coffee on Jack's desk and headed towards Owen and Suzie, it having been her turn to pick coffees up on the way into the Hub. The three team mates where about to drink their coffee when there was a crash from Jack's office and a dark head of messy hair appeared poking around the office door.

Owen looked at the coffee cup and groaned. 'I told you this place was crap, even the rats wont touch this swill and you know they aren't fussy.'
'It happens to be under new ownership.'
'Oh.' He shrugged as he looked up at their leader. 'You want something Jack?'
'Tosh.'
They watched him all but pour himself out of his office and move to lean over the railing dangling an empty take away coffee cup in his hand. 'Where did this come from?'
'The coffee shack on the plass.'
If this had been a cartoon there would have been a puff of smoke where Jack was leaning as he grabbed his coat and headed out the door with an 'I'll be back.' tossed over his shoulder.

Owen looked from the space his boss had been slouching in to the cup of coffee he was holding and then up at Tosh. 'Suggestions?'
She sipped her coffee and shrugged. 'I might have one or two.' Turning she headed to her computer and began logging in. 'Drink your coffee Owen.'
'I'm not sure I should.' He headed to his collection of medical equipment and took a sample of the coffee to run though the mass spec. Forgetting his reluctance to try the coffee he found himself drinking it and nearly dropped the take away coffee cup. Looking around he found Tosh and Suzie laughing at him.

'What? It's bloody marvellous.'
'I told you it was under new management.' The Japanese woman muttered as she turned back to her computer.
'But this is actually drinkable. I mean, I don't need to take an antacid or charcoal tablets after drinking this.'
Suzie rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. Don't you have work to do.' Finishing her coffee she moved back to her work bench and the assorted collection of alien tat she was currently examining.
'Well, yeah.' Owen knew he wasn't getting anything else from the two women he worked with and decided to tackle the ever present pile of paperwork on his desk. Until the mass spec finished analysing his coffee he even managed to focus for all of two minutes. Out of the twenty it took to run the sample. He was almost disappointed to find out it was just coffee, milk and a little sugar.

The cog door alarm sounded and Jack sauntered into the room carrying a fresh cup of coffee and smiled at his team as he made his way to Tosh's work station. Pulling a paper bag from his pocket he placed it next to his technical genius.
'Thank you.'
She looked at him over her glasses and frowned. 'Why?'
'For bringing me that cup of divinity.'
'It's just coffee.'
'Oh no.' He insisted. 'It's much, much more than just coffee.' He gave her a grin and a wink before heading to his office.
Tosh shook her head and called out to Owen, wanting to know if there was anything unusual in the coffee he tested after all.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Ianto Jones watched the man in the RAF great coat leave his coffee shop with a dreamy smile, a cup of coffee and a melting moment in a paper bag tucked into a pocket. Wondering what god had such a perverse sense of humour to encourage him to set up shop in the immediate vicinity of Torchwood. He wasn't sure how he felt about being on Torchwood's doorstep but it was too late to change that now.

He would have to see how this played out. Based on the flirting alone, never mind the distracting noises Captain Jack Harkness had made while drinking a cup of coffee before purchasing a fresh cup to go, he was going to be seeing a lot more of Cardiff Torchwood. And as he admired the man's magnificent arse, he found it hard to care.

Meeting Jack Harkness had answered one question for Ianto. While the man may have a reputation for escaping death, he was not a participant in the game. Which was just as well since Ianto had designs on spending more time with the handsome flirt. And it was always better if one didn't have to chop the heads off of one's friends or lovers. Enemies however were fair game.

Notes: title is from the Wilfred Owen poem: My Shy Hand My shy hand shades a hermitage apart, -
O large enough for thee, and thy brief hours.
Life there is sweeter held than in God's heart,
Stiller than in the heavens of hollow flowers. The wine is gladder there than in gold bowls.
And Time shall not drain thence, nor trouble spill.
Sources between my fingers feed all souls,
Where thou mayest cool thy lips, and draw thy fill. Five cushions hath my hand, for reveries;
And one deep pillow for thy brow's fatigues;
Languor of June all winterlong, and ease
For ever from the vain untravelled leagues. Thither your years may gather in from storm,
And Love, that sleepeth there, will keep thee warm.
Wilfred Owen