"I think the rain's cleared out. Should we have a walk?" Jack asked, clearing the dinner plates.
"Alright," Ianto agreed. "I'll want a fleece jumper, though." Since the heat of the afternoon it had turned into a much cooler, more comfortable, if wet, evening.
Jack smiled as if to say, 'of course you will.' Jack waited for Ianto by the front door. He couldn't help thinking how gorgeous Yan was, even just in chinos and his zip jumper. Jack reached for his hand as Ianto took the keys to lock up behind them and they set off down the front path and along the drive.
"You know, I've been thinking," Jack said as they walked. He quickly added, "The house needs a name," before Ianto could chime in with a clever remark about novelty or pain.
"You like naming things, don't you?" Ianto said.
"Cool houses need names, right?"
Ianto just grinned. "Alright…. O Hyn Ymlaen?"
Jack just looked blankly at Ianto. "Sounds lovely. But for all I know you just said 'Jack Harkness is a jerk.'"
"That would be a bit more of 'yn haliwr,' or maybe 'yn pen pigyn,' or even -"
"Ok!" Jack said, throwing up his hands. "I know when I'm beat."
"You have been around long enough to pick up some of the language, you know."
"Was never really interested before. Always figured my incredible good looks did all the talking necessary," Jack grinned.
Ianto rolled his eyes.
"So what does it mean?"
"Basically, 'hereafter.'"
"I like that," Jack said, taking Ianto's hand again and holding it tightly.
"That's settled, then. Oh, Jocasta and Neil invited us for drinks sometime this week."
"Who?"
"Jocasta and Neil. From down the road? With the chickens?"
Jack was completely lost. "What chickens?"
"Jack Harkness yn haliwr," Ianto sighed and tried not to laugh at Jack's pout. "I told you about them last week."
"When?"
"You were shaving."
"I don't hear anything while I'm shaving, Yan, you know that. Always end up with little nicks if I don't concentrate."
"They heal before you can reach for the styptic!"
"Still a bit raw when the aftershave hits it," Jack grumbled.
"Anyway. They have chickens that sometimes wander into our garden."
"Kind of a big 'wander,' isn't it? I mean, we're on nearly a half-mile square."
"They're chickens, Jack. What have they got to do but wander? As I was saying… I met Jocasta last week when she was looking for their blue cochin hen. We chatted a bit and she invited us round for drinks this week some night."
"Alright," Jack said, wondering what else he'd missed while shaving over the years. "Did you find it?"
"What?"
"The chicken."
"Oh. Of course."
Jack nodded. Then started giggling.
Ianto gave him a look.
"Chickens, Yan. It wasn't that long ago we were running down weevils and hoixes. And now… it's chickens. Just chickens."
"It was a big chicken."
Jack laughed and pulled Ianto close, kissing him on the cheek.
"I've never seen you so… real," Ianto said after a while.
Jack glanced over with a raised brow.
"Well, you know, so… regular. You could be anyone walking down the street. Except hotter, of course, but you know what I mean. You seem more… contemporary. In all the time I've known you, you've always been a bit…. It was more than the coat, you just were another time. But lately…."
"I fit."
Ianto nodded. "Yeah."
"That's down to you. This is the closest I've felt to… not even to normal or my 'old' self, but, I think, to who I'd always wanted to be. I've done my job and now I get to settle down. And for the first time in a very long time, it doesn't matter that I can't die and barely age. I'm where I belong, where I'm meant to be, more so even than where I was born and raised."
"I understand what that feels like," Ianto said, "what it's like not belonging where you started out, knowing what you are and only hoping you'd one day find a place to be. I think we're pretty lucky to have found that in the same place."
Jack stopped and pulled Ianto to him. "Love you so much," he said, going for a long kiss. Ianto was right – they met as two deeply broken people but found their place in one another. Ianto had fixed for Jack what even the Doctor couldn't. When Jack thought of Ianto fussing over his rose garden and chasing after a neighbor's chicken, he hoped he'd been able to fix Ianto's breaks as well.
"Come on, Jack. I'll chase off any rogue chickens," Ianto said, wrapping his arm around Jack's waist as they continued down the road on a cool, damp, perfect Welsh evening.