Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood
Used to It
The first time they met, John gave him the nickname. Just looked him up and down, shook his hand, grinned, and dubbed him 'Eye Candy.' The secretary, who'd been sitting at her desk when they'd come out of the Director's office, newly assigned to each other, cleared her throat.
"Agent Hart, Agent Jones," she said when the two men looked over at her. "I suggest you be on your way." The tone of her voice made it quite obvious that she was doing more than suggesting.
"No need to be testy, love," John said, sliding his hands into his pockets and sauntering towards the door. "See, we're walking." He opened the door and paused, looking back at his new partner. "Coming, Eye Candy, or are you testing Cynthia's wrath?"
The comment earned him a glare from the secretary, but his new partner quickly followed him out into the hall. Before they'd taken more than two steps away from the office, however, John quickly turned on his heel and pressed the other man against the wall.
"Well, now, Eye Candy," he whispered. "Are you ready to work with the John Hart?"
"Ianto," the man said. John blinked and pulled back a little, a puzzled look crossing his face.
"No, love, my name isn't Ianto," he said, a smirk quickly replacing the confusion. "It's John…say it with me now, John."
Rough hands pressed against John's shoulders and pushed him back. He collided with the wall on the other side of the hall. The other man quickly pressed his own body against John's, holding him in place. John's smirk grew.
"Like it rough, do you?" he asked. "Ianto, was it?"
Ianto gritted his teeth and leaned his head closer, his breath hot on John's cheek. "You and me?" he whispered. "Never gonna happen." His voice was calm and even. John couldn't decide if it meant the man was in control or trying to maintain control.
Either way, John had the perfect retort. He adopted a serious expression as Ianto turned away from him and continued down the hall, hands crammed deep into his pockets.
"My reputation precedes me, I see," John called out, jogging to catch up to his new partner.
Ianto didn't reply, and John didn't make the joke again. He fell into step beside Ianto as they headed out into the crisp, cold night. The wind rustled John's hair and Ianto's suit jacket billowed behind him, but neither man took much notice. It was just another night.
***
John liked to talk. That was the first thing Ianto noticed. He liked to talk and he liked to flirt. And he constantly dwelt on the same subject: a time loop and a man named Jack. Ianto got to hear excessive descriptions of the things John and Jack did, things Ianto didn't particularly care to hear.
He learned to tune the stories out, though, and concentrate on whatever needed to be done instead, giving intermittent nods and "mmhmm's" to make it appear as though he were listening; as though he cared.
Until one night, a few weeks after they'd been assigned to each other. They were sitting in a pub, nursing their drinks, and John was telling yet another story about the time loop. He was nowhere near done (Ianto could tell when John's stories were winding down, and this one had only just begun) when he suddenly stopped talking.
Ianto didn't notice at first, too lost in his own thoughts, but after a few minutes the lack of John's voice registered and he turned his head to look at the other man. John's face was oddly serious, hardly a trace of his usual smirk (though Ianto swore he could see the corners of John's lips twitching with the effort of keeping a straight face).
"You're a quiet fellow, aren't you, Eye Candy," John said, leaning towards Ianto. Ianto shrugged, but he should have known John wouldn't let it rest. "Why so quiet?" John asked. "I'm sure you've got a story." He slid a hand along Ianto's thigh, but Ianto pulled away, becoming very interested in his drink.
He caught John's smirk out of the corner of his eye.
"I'll have you, Eye Candy," John said, leaning back and chugging the last of his drink. "No one can resist John Hart. Not for long, anyway."
***
Ianto hated to admit it, but John was right.
Lucky for him, he didn't have to say anything out loud beyond "what the fuck was that?!" before throwing the other man back against the wall and pressing his lips against John's. He tugged fiercely at the buttons on John's shirt, ripping them from their respective holes and pushing the shirt from his shoulders.
When John went to do the same to him, however, he caught the other man's wrists and slammed his hands back against the wall.
"I'm in charge," Ianto whispered, his lips brushing against John's as he spoke. He lifted John's hands up above the other man's head and held them there with one hand while trailing the other down John's chest to the waist of his trousers, undoing the buttons. A moan escaped John's lips and his hips bucked as Ianto slid his hand down into the other man's pants.
Ianto grinned and slowly began trailing kisses along John's jaw line and down his neck. He slid his other hand down along John's arm, down to his shoulder, but before he could continue with what he was planning to do, John shoved him back. His legs hit the bed and he fell back, and John was soon on top of him.
"You're mine, Eye Candy," John said, smirking. Ianto laughed, the sound taking John off guard and giving Ianto the opening he needed to turn them over so he was the one leaning over John; smirking, of course.
"I don't think so," he said, throwing off his suit jacket. He undid his tie, then guided John's hands to his shirt. John got the hint and quickly began unbuttoning the garment, but Ianto stopped him after only two buttons were open. "Be careful," he said.
John grinned. "I could get used to this," he said.
"Don't" was Ianto's reply.
John didn't think anything of it, however, since the next thing Ianto's lips were doing was far more distracting.
***
"If we ever meet again," Ianto said, his voice cold, emotionless.
"We won't," John replied, matter-of-factly, and Ianto was sure he was back to that mysterious man named Jack. "No one ever does."
"But if we do," Ianto started again. He paused, looking up at the night sky. "We've never met before."
John didn't say anything, and Ianto took that as his cue. He walked away, hands in his pockets, head held high. John watched him go, getting one last glimpse of that Eye Candy before it was gone forever, and he cursed under his breath.
He'd gotten used to it.