Title: Teaboy in a Box
Author: JerBearThompson
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Setting: Early days
Genre: Fluff! Just fluff.
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Length: 813. Still short.
Summary: 'You're stuck?' Ianto Jones trapped in a cardboard box…'
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. BBC, RTD, blah blah blah Cherry Chapstick!
A/N: Written in seven minutes! For Hannah who wanted fluff, a cardboard box, and the word "twpsyn".
Teaboy in a Box
If there was one thing Captain Jack Harkness never thought he'd see, it was the sight of one Ianto Jones sitting cross-legged in a large cardboard box marked "FRAGILE". And yet two steps out of his office on this lovely morning, and here it was, right before his very eyes.
'Ianto?' he asked hesitantly.
'Oh, good morning sir,' Ianto looked confused as he stared up at Jack from the box. 'Coffee's in the kitchen. Black, no milk, no sugar.'
'Yeah, thanks,' Jack nodded but made no move to go and retrieve it.
'Anything else you require?' The younger man asked uncertainly.
'Not right now,' Jack replied softly, sitting in front of the box carefully. 'Ianto are you… are you okay?'
'Yep,' the man replied shortly, cheerfully nodding his head.
'Alright, good…' Jack searched his brain for a different way to word what he was trying to say without being too obvious. Oh screw it. 'It's just… you're sitting in a box, is all.'
He could have sworn he saw the faintest sign of a blush on Ianto's cheeks.
'I know, sir. I seem to be, um, stuck.'
Jack being Jack, he didn't even try to hide his smile, which widened into a toothy grin, his whole face joining in until he was positively beaming.
'You're stuck?' Ianto Jones trapped in a cardboard box. Oh glory be the day!'
'Not really the time, Jack.'
Jack just chuckled softly, 'How'd you manage that, then?'
'Well um, long story actually.'
Jack leant in close, 'I've got all day.'
Ianto looked around nervously, expecting someone to burst into the hub any second, ready to start the day. No, he told himself firmly, still too early, surely.
'I came in to work and… there was this box,' Ianto began, his voice going a higher pitch than usual with his uneasiness. 'No one was here, and I remembered… when I was a child, sir, my brother and I… we… liked… boxes.'
He was trying to focus on anything but the captain, and Jack wondered briefly how he'd react if he ever asked him out on a date. And the thrum Jack felt at the thought made him realise he actually wanted to ask him out, and not just to see his response.
'…weak moment,'
Jack was brought back to reality by Ianto continuing shyly.
'And so I um, I sat in it. And now I'm stuck.'
Jack took the opportunity to peek over the edge of the box. He certainly didn't look stuck. His body wasn't even touching the sides of it. In fact, it looked like you could almost fit another person in there! For some reason, that thought appealed to Jack far more than it should have…
'And… you're sure?' Jack asked, confounded.
'Yes, I can't… move. Get me out? Please,' and this time all Ianto could do was stare up at Jack with his big blue eyes, pleading with the older man.
Jack waved a hand experimentally inside the box. All seemed as it should. 'So this… alien box… is holding you captive?' he asked with a wicked grin.
Ianto's attempt at a glare turned out to be more like a pout. A little puppy dog's pout, Jack noted fondly.
'Let me see,' Jack practically jumped to his feet and lifted one over the side of the box.
'Jack, don't,' Ianto warned.
'Ianto, it's a cardboard box. Honestly, what's it going to do?'
Jack settled into a sitting position, the size of the box pressing him into Ianto's side. He tried to shift his legs a bit so it wouldn't be so uncomfortable but… he couldn't.
'Oh…' Jack smiled sheepishly.
'Oh,' Ianto repeated sarcastically, before muttering under his breath, 'please let Owen be sick today, please don't let the bastard come in.'
'Well what do you know,' Jack moved his head around experimentally, the only thing he seemed to be able to move. 'Stuck in a box, who'd have thought it.'
'Jack,' Ianto sounded exasperated, 'how are we going to get out?'
Jack shrugged. Or… tried to, it turned out more as a little bob of his head. 'I don't know. Guess we'll have to wait until the rest of the team arrives. Get Tosh to run some scans, it'll be okay.'
Ianto sighed and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. 'That could be hours, still. You twpsyn Jack! I told you not to get in!'
Idiot, Jack's head translated the Welsh word for him. 'I'm sorry,' he said quietly. And he meant it. 'It did look inviting though.'
He didn't see it but he could have sworn Ianto rolled his eyes.
'So what do we do to pass the time?' the younger man asked slowly.
Jack thought for a moment. 'Can I kiss you?'
Ianto looked up sharply, frowned, then smiled.
The three other members of the team took that moment to walk in.