A/N: Hello everyone,
welcome to my second story! It was written for the prompt "Imagine your favouite couple making out until the mood is ruined" (or something...). I read a brilliant story, which made me laugh quite a bit, but I can't find it anymore! So I decided to do it the other way round! :) If someone knows which story I'm talking about, please let me know !
So, yeah. It's just pure and utter fluff, used as a decoy from the NaNo this year (I failed. Miserably.). I was in need of fluff, and so fluff it is. I'm warning you - it might be silly, out of character or whatever, but I liked it and it's so different to my first story! Foremost - it's a bit brighter, not as sad! Woohoo, I can write happy stuff!
I've got, however, some other stuff up my sleeve so this is all the introduction I'll leave you with. I'm sitting in an incredibly crowded Starbucks right now, there's probably someone glancing over my shoulder - if so, I hope this person likes what he or she is seeing and reading. Hence me being too lazy to do a proper header, though. No warnings, no nothing, since nothing big is happening except the "S-word" being mentioned. No swearing, no sexy-times... things that happen rarely, I guess. ;)
Anyway, forgive me for rambling on. I hope you enjoy this. Please keep in mind that English is NOT my first language, so if something is off (except my commas. I know it's probably awfully German. Forgive me! - but if you want, you can correct me on this point, too!) and utterly wrong, please let me know! I have to write academic papers soon - you'd do me a huge favour! Plus it's not beta-ed...
So, have fun!
„Would you like to… ah… come to the bedroom with me? " As soon as he said it, Ianto turned a bit red around the ears. "Not for sex, I mean, but…"
Jack silenced him with a short kiss. "It's okay, I get it. Yep, let's go."
They had decided, after Jack had returned from the year that never was, to take it slow. Well, Ianto had decided. He was tired of feeling like a quick shag, an office liaison, and therefore established something close to a date-count. He was willing to break his own sex-ban by now, but somehow he wanted to wait for a bit longer. Just to see how Jack would react. But making out for a bit, and sharing a bed for sleep, couldn't hurt, could it? Jack's kisses were hard to resist, as he just realized, but Ianto was sure he could bring things to a halt when he wanted.
While he slowly walked Ianto to his bedroom, never really breaking contact, Jack contemplated the evening. It had been a nice date, with excellent dinner in his favourite Italian restaurant and a movie back at Ianto's – the cinema part hadn't quite worked out as planned. However, the Immortal didn't want to ruin his chances with his employee by rushing him into something that Ianto didn't want. Not yet wanted. In his mind, Jack tried to draw a line. He had to stay focused enough to stop when Ianto started to feel uncomfortable because there was no way Jack would risk what they were beginning to have. It scared him that he thought like this, but if he was completely honest, Ianto's death on the valiant had torn a hole into Jack's heart that took a long time to heal. In fact it wasn't fully healed yet – the Immortal still remembered vividly what the Master had done to his lover.
Deepening the kiss, Jack managed to free one hand to open Ianto's shirt. Every revealed inch of warm, rosy skin served as a confirmation of Ianto's alive-ness. Jack had to feel his heartbeat, assuring himself that this was no dream, at whatever cost.
Ianto, quite happily, participated and managed to divest his boss – his boss, he thought, the man paying him… this still felt a bit awkward to think of the thing between them as a thing between employer and employee – of his shirt and vest, too. He was a bit surprised when Jack turned them around, but Ianto's surprise changed into delight when he landed on his bed, on top of Jack's warm body.
"It's you setting the rules, okay? If anything is off, tell me."
"Mhm.."
"Promise, Ianto."
This made the young man look up from where he had rested his head on Jack's chest. Something strange lay in his lover's eyes, but it made Ianto nod.
"I promise."
As soon as the words had left his mouth, Jack was all over him again. He was gentle, almost as if he was afraid of breaking Ianto, which made the young man swallow. This was so… perfect. But he was not the one on top, not usually… with a decided move, Ianto grasped Jack's shoulders to turn them around. He felt his lover tighten his grip, a wave of excitement rolling over his body.
Then he felt something hard on his temple, right before he hit the floor – quite literally. As soon as he realized that he'd just fallen out of bed, even while making out with his lover, Ianto turned a lovely shade of red. All over. His temple felt funny, too – must have been the contact with his nightstand, Ianto decided.
Jack, on the other hand, was having a good time. After the initial schock of losing contact with Ianto, the resounding "thump" had told him exactly what had happened – and Jack was gone for good. He couldn't stop the giggles from turning into full-blown laughter.
"Well, nice, at least one of us has a good time."
Jack , still giggling, sat up to give Ianto a hand, when he stopped.
"What is it? Don't tell me I've got something on my face, adding to the fact that I probably look like a crossbreed between human and tomato."
The Welshman seemed to be seriously annoyed.
"In fact, you have… but come here."
When the young man just gave him the raised eyebrow, Jack sighed and got off the bed, just to sit on the floor next to Ianto. He still couldn't surpress one or two giggles – the situation was too funny. The Immortal didn't realize that this might hurt the Welshman; he was too wrapped up in trying to be reassuring without breaking into laughter once again.
"Okay, it's so funny, yeah?"
Still annoyed. Oh well. An annoyed Ianto was still a bit enigmatic to Jack. Ianto hid behind a bland mask at work, occasionally slipping to reveal a wicked sense of humor, but his Welsh temper was unmistakably there. Especially in this situation.
Jack blindly grabbed for something, by accident catching his own vest (better than Ianto's shirt, for sure), and gently used the hem to dab at Ianto's temple.
"You're actually bleeding… Just a bit, but still bleeding. And I think it might form a lovely bruise, too ."
The answer was a low, but obviously embarrassed, groan.
"Does it hurt?"
Now Jack sounded really worried.
Ianto, on the other hand, looked up.
"The only thing that really hurts is my pride. And my temple, maybe. A bit. "
"Your pride?"
Unable to keep the confusion out of his voice, Jack raised one eyebrow – not quite as good as when Ianto did it, but he had to admit that the Immortal had indeed gotten better over time.
"Why would your pride be hurt?"
"You really don't get it, do you?"
The burst of anger only lasted for a short time before Ianto turned even redder and looked away again. He felt stupid, being hurt by a simple burst of laughter, but he couldn't help it. It was humiliating, in its own way, especially for a private person like Ianto. In fact, he was sharing something with Jack, something incredibly special, just to embarrass himself by falling out of bed. The Welshman didn't dare imagine what would happen the next time. It could always get worse… a lot worse.
Gentle fingers under his chin made the young man look up, meeting Jack's eyes.
"Okay. Stop right there. I see that you're hurt, but I don't really get why? This happens."
"Yeah… to... teenagers."
Even though he was looking up, Ianto still did not really speak to his lover - he ware more mumbling to himself, for the sake of his last bit of pride that was unharmed.
"Hm?"
"For God's sake, Jack, I feel like a stupid, overeager teenager. I just embarrassed myself in front of you, big time, which you seemed to find incredibly funny, and the bruise I'll get might as well turn into a black eye and then everyone will…mmmph."
Jack had silenced Ianto's ramble in the best way he knew - by just kissing him while drawing Ianto closer. It was chaste and rather short, but it had the desired effect. Ianto, while looking a bit dazed, had forgotten to ramble on.
"Okay. I get that you're embarrassed, and you really don't have a reason… but please, calm down. This is nothing bad…."
"You still laughed."
By now, Ianto felt like a small child. But it was such a good feeling to just act like a teenager – let the mask slip, let the real, hurt Ianto come through for a bit. The slightly rough hand, however, caressing his cheek caught the young man off-guard.
"Of course I laughed. And now I'm sorry. But you would have done so, too – only I would probably have laughed with you."
Taking a deep breath, Ianto was stilled by Jack's finger on his lips, effectively sealing them before he could even get a single sound out.
"And that's okay. You're not me, and I know that you're not comfortable with being imperfect. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'll get some medi-strips to make sure that this," Jack gently dabbed Ianto's temple with his vest, "doesn't get infected. And about your black eye… we'll tell the others it was a Weevil or something. I promise, this stays between us."
As the Immortal did as he just explained, Ianto stayed back, wondering about when this evening had taken such a strange turn. Still feeling humiliated, the young man slowly got up, stretching his aching legs, before he sat down on the bed. This was all so… unusual. Ianto was still red, the whole-body flush only slightly fading and blossoming again when Jack returned with a damp cloth and a small first aid-kit.
"Wherever you produced that from…"
Ianto murmured, glancing at the kit as his boss sat down next to him. He smelt like nightair, brisk and fresh, with an underlying current of his pheromones. The cold from outside seemed to accompany him, seeping into the bedroom and making Ianto shiver.
"I hope you haven't gone out like this…"
Jack chuckled.
"I chucked my coat on. Couldn't risk the neighbour's eyes popping out, could I?"
An answering, slightly exasperated eye-roll made Jack chuckle again before he reached for Ianto, drawing him a bit closer to clean his temple. The young man flinched initially, mostly because of the cold, before he forced himself to relax.
"Sorry."
Comfortable silence settled over the bedroom, only broken by the sounds of Jack opening the first aid-kit. There was a shift in the mood, once again, Ianto's humiliation still present but slowly fading into the background to be covered by comfort and a small bit of satisfaction offered by the men being close without any social pressure. Ianto was happy with not having to say anything while his lover tended to him; Jack, on the other hand, managed to get his initial worry in check. Ianto, with a bit of reassurance, would be just fine. The Immortal knew that his Welshman was a very private person, loving to keep to himself and rarely opening up to anybody. Jack cherished the fact that Ianto decided to open up to him – Jack knew that he'd have to return the favour at some point. But for now, it was his turn to care for Ianto.
"That should hold for now. You'll probably get a lovely bruise, but we'll find a cover story for that"
"Mmmh…"
Ianto was somewhere else, deep in thought. The young man wasn't so sure where exactly his thoughts were wandering, but he felt warm and contempted, and that was good. Since Jack had come back, the young man felt a lot better. Of course, he had become a full field-agent in his lover's (and boss, Ianto reminded himself… oh, dear.) absence, had grown closer with Gwen, Tosh and even Owen, but with Jack back in his position as leader of Team Torchwood, it felt as if a missing puzzle piece had found its slot. For once, Ianto muse, his life felt more perfect than when he had been with Lisa; it was so perfect that thinking about the whole disaster did not hurt as badly as it had before. Instead, he remembered the Lisa he met before Canary Wharf. While it still made him feel guilty – he had practically cheated on her since he started working in Cardiff – the young man felt as if his coworkers had done their utmost to bring them into their Torchwood family. Now he was sitting here, with Jack by his side, and everything felt so good that it was nearly hurting again. How did he deserve this?
Jack's voice broke the young man's reverie.
"Okay, it's definitely past bedtime for you."
He flung the duvet back, giving Ianto a pointed look that indicated for the young man to get in. Ianto, still a bit in his own world, gave Jack a questioning look.
"I think it's been enough excitement for tonight. And to be fair, the mood is ruined, so you should grasp every minute of sleep you can – you never know what will happen tomorrow."
Jack was smiling slightly, giving Ianto no chance but to smile back.
"So, go on, get out of those trousers and under your duvet, Mr Jones - don't force me to make you do it."
A playful wink, a new blush blossoming on the Welshman's cheeks, as he slowly did as Jack told him. He was still embarrassed – it was as if something had taken Ianto back into his teenage years, including the insecurities and angsty feelings. Getting comfortable in his bed, Ianto looked up at Jack.
"Stay?"
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't. Please?"
"Ianto, I'm not sure…"
Deciding that he couldn't embarrass himself more than he had already done, Ianto took all his courage and sat up. Fixing Jack with a nearly-steely glare, the young man began to speak, surprised how sleepy he already sounded.
"Bollocks. Get into this bed, Jack, and get over yourself. I might be insecure and not as confident as you are, but I know what I want. If we're ever going to go all the way, we're doing it properly."
That said, and his heart a little lighter, Ianto flopped back down into the pillows, arching an eyebrow at his boss and waiting. For a long, incredibly tense moment, both men just looked into each other's eyes before Jack finally gave in and stood up to undress down to his boxers. As he climbed into bed, Ianto shuffled over to make enough room. As the Immortal stretched, his whole body took in the sensations. Ianto's soft bed, the sound of their combined breaths, the quiet presence of the Welshman next to him – warmth, familiarity, comfort.
"Let's sleep. Want to cuddle up to me?"
Jack turned his head to the side, smirking at Ianto. Earning another eyeroll and a small huff, he couldn't help but chuckle when his employee scooted closer, resting his head on Jack's shoulder. It was just like before he went away with the Doctor. Only deeper, Jack mused.
"I might have ruined the mood, and this still humiliates me, but it would be really helpful if you'd stop thinking. Some people are trying to sleep."
His speech muffled by Jack's warm skin, Ianto still managed to put his usual sarcasm into his voice. Jack laughed.
"Go to sleep, Ianto. Tomorrow we'll work on how to make out properly, I promise."
It was always endearing to see how red a human being could turn.
A/N:
So, there we go. That's it. Any opinions?
If it was good - leave a comment!
if it was not good - feel free to leave a comment, too.
if you don't want to leave a comment - that is perfectly fine with me, you're still a lovely person and I'm happy you read it! :) (I'm a fan of positive encouragement.)
Anyways, thanks for reading all you lovely people! I hope you enjoyed it! :)
