Roman Holiday
Chapter Three
"That was a fabulous meal," proclaimed Jack as he flung off his jacket and sat on the sofa in the apartment. "Great choice."
"I knew you'd like it." Ianto collected the jackets, removed the fudge from Jack's, and went with them into the bedroom and hung them up. "Coffee?" he asked when he returned to the main room.
"Please." Jack had the folder of tourist information in his hands and was flicking through the many brochures. "Aha! There's one here for that restaurant. Seems it's won a few awards."
"Not surprised. That food was as good as any we ate in Nepal." He manipulated the coffee machine, pleased with the way it was performing, and very soon two mugs of aromatic coffee emerged. He took them across and sat on the sofa next to Jack. "Can I see?" He exchanged the coffee for the brochure and read with interest.
"There's a spa here apparently," said Jack. He had ransacked the folder and brochures and pages of information were all over the place, taken from their enclosing plastic covers and discarded at will. "We could have some treatments."
"Jack, look at the mess you've made!"
Ianto thought about clearing up but decided not to. This was the first time Jack had shown any interest in reading about anywhere they had visited. Normally he went out and trudged round the streets hoping to find something to do. Tourism his way was like a lottery, you either chanced upon all the places of interest or none. Ianto reached for the few brochures nearest him and flicked through them. There was one for the open-topped bus and he checked the route, delighted to discover it started its circular tour from just by the Abbey. That would be the best place to start tomorrow, a tour which would take them to all the main attractions.
"We have definitely got to go here," said Jack, still looking at the brochure about the spa.
"Is it open on Sunday? That would be a great way to end the holiday."
"Umm, yeah it is. You'll put that on the list?"
"Yes," laughed Ianto, "and you want to visit this American Museum."
"Mustn't miss that, I've heard it's really good. Lots of rooms set out as they would have been at different periods of history. I'll be able to check if they got it right!" He grinned and drained the last of his coffee. "What about you, what do you want to do?"
"The Baths, that's a must for me. As for the rest, I'm easy."
"I know you are, Ianto Jones." Jack pushed the brochures onto the floor and reached for the younger man. "Come here." They spent the next ten minutes in pleasurable pursuits before Ianto called a halt.
"No, Jack, leave me alone." He held the other man away from him, laughing all the time. "Wait until we go to bed."
"We can go to bed now," growled Jack, attempting to get past Ianto's defences.
"It's a bit early. Let's watch the news and see what's happening in the world and then go to bed."
"All right." Jack sat back on the sofa, his shirt open and his T-shirt hoicked up. "It's quiet here," he remarked while searching for the TV remote control. "Not a sound from the neighbours."
"Must be thick walls." Ianto curled up beside Jack and rested his head on the other man's shoulder. Privately he thought that was a very good thing; he and Jack were not known for quiet lovemaking.
-ooOoo-
Soft chimes from a clock somewhere outside drew Ianto back to consciousness. It was dark and he was alone in the bed. He looked around but there was no sign of Jack and, checking his watch, he found it was not quite one o'clock. Padding from the bed he went in search of his lover and found him in the main room, standing by the window looking out.
"Jack?" Ianto's voice still had a tinge of sleepiness and he rubbed his eyes.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean to wake you," said Jack, turning to face into the room. With the glow from the street lamps outside behind him, his face was in shadow.
"Are you all right? You've barely slept for days now." Ianto moved closer, close enough to see Jack's drawn and almost haggard face. "What's the matter, cariad?"
"Nothing."
"Lie to yourself if you want to, but don't lie to me." Ianto stopped about a foot in front of Jack and regarded him sternly.
"Sorry." Jack turned half away, not wanting to look at this man who could see through him so easily.
"What is it, Jack?" Ianto placed a hand on the other man's arm, running it down until he grasped a hand.
After a moment's silence, Jack said, "Memories. And regrets, lots of regrets."
"Tell me."
"That would take too long," Jack replied, smiling faintly. "But … it was my fault you got sent to the Himalayas."
Ianto moved closer, wrapping his arms round the other man and pulling Jack's head to rest on his shoulder. "Is that all? It was a weird time but in a perverse way, we all quite enjoyed it. There's nothing to regret."
With his arms round Ianto, Jack felt safe and loved. It had been a long time since he had made this deep a connection with anyone and he was so tempted to open up and tell him everything about his long life but some incidents were still too painful. He doubted he would ever tell Ianto about his time in the hands of The Master or about Gray. There were so many other episodes in his life of which he was not proud too, but at present it was Gray who haunted his dreams. He did not know why, he had buried the memories of his family and especially his brother many, many years ago but for some reason they had surfaced again. Now they troubled his sleep and he found it harder than normal to rest.
"Come back to bed, I'm getting cold." Ianto pulled away and ran a hand over Jack's cheek before kissing it gently.
Back in the large bed, Ianto held Jack to him in an effort to protect him from whatever shadows haunted his mind. He had been different these past few weeks since the team had lost two days. Ianto had no idea what had happened then and didn't want to know. Luckily he had no dreams or nightmares to tantalise him and he was content. He felt Jack relax and ease into sleep and held him tighter, knowing it helped Jack in some indefinable way. Gradually Ianto's eyes grew heavy and he joined Jack in restorative slumber.
-ooOoo-
"Let's go up top," Jack said, climbing aboard the open topped double-decker bus. He ran up the steps and looked around before plumping for a bench seat at the very front. Ianto joined him there, Jack's arm snaking round his shoulders.
"Careful, Jack," said Ianto risking a peek behind them. There were half a dozen other people on the upper deck of the bus all of whom could see the Torchwood pair. "Don't embarrass me, please."
"I am merely resting my arm along the back of the seat. Stop being so uptight." Jack was in a good mood. He had slept well the night before, after his early morning chat with Ianto, and the wake up sex and shared shower had been pleasurable for them both. A fried breakfast had set Jack up for the day ahead and he intended to enjoy every minute.
Ianto did not comment. He was reading the brochure describing the route taken by the bus. It circled the city and stopped close to most of the attractions. They planned to ride the bus to the Royal Crescent then walk through that part of the city before picking up the bus again and seeing where else it took them.
"That bridge really is great," said Jack. From where they were sitting, waiting for the bus to start, they could just see the river, the weir and Pulteney Bridge.
"Well, we've done that. Going to do other things today."
"Is that it? One visit's all we're allowed?" teased Jack.
"It's all we have time for if we're to fit everything else in," pointed out Ianto. The list of places they wanted to visit had grown over breakfast when they'd discussed places that interested them. "Oh, we're off."
The bus moved off and the guide began his spiel about the tour. First place was the Abbey which they passed on the left then they were climbing up the hill and through some of the shopping streets where museums also nestled. The architecture varied and as they stopped and started through the traffic, they had ample time to enjoy the different features. Entering another street that led down another side of the hill, they passed the Theatre Royal and a modern glass building that was the Thermae Bath Spa.
"We have so got to go there," said Jack over the guide's commentary.
"All right. I wonder what's on at the Theatre? That could be a good night out."
"Do we have to?" complained Jack. "We did that last time."
"I like the theatre," replied Ianto, unperturbed by Jack's comment.
The bus moved on through some of the unattractive 1960s buildings around the bus station before turning back and, using yet another road, climbed the hill again. This time they were in Georgian Bath and the houses were well kept and attractive behind neat railings. Jack chuckled when he saw they went from Queen Square to Gay Street and whispered a very rude suggestion to Ianto which made the Welshman blush. Luckily they reached The Circus just after this and Ianto stood up.
"Come on, we get off here." He led the way down the steps, hanging on tight as the bus manoeuvred its way round the narrow streets. Once off the bus, Ianto took his bearings. "What a fabulous place to live," he said looking round at the circle of tall houses surrounding a central private garden. Three openings for roads were the only breaks in the circle. "I can just see Jane Austen walking round here."
"You'd make a great Mr Darcy," said Jack, standing looking round with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing the short jacket Ianto preferred for holidays and missed his greatcoat.
"And you'd be Wickham," countered Ianto. "Ruining innocent maidens and running up debts. Just your sort of thing." He started walking towards the Royal Crescent.
"Don't mind seeing to the maidens, but I haven't gambled since I won a Gontik Warbler in a game on Rigel Nine." He shuddered.
Ianto opened his mouth to ask about this but decided against it, he could do without one of Jack's long and involved explanations. Soon they could see the Royal Crescent, standing on the crest of a hill above Royal Victoria Park sloping down to the river and the railway line below. The sun had come out and the Bath stone houses making up the Crescent were bathed in sunlight and fairly glowed. The two men walked along slowly, admiring the symmetrical architecture, so like that they had seen in The Circus. The end house was open and they took an hour to wander through its rooms which had been set up as they would have been in the 18th century. It was a wholly different way of living. The guides were informative and one man had a long conversation with Jack about etiquette that Ianto hoped the immortal man would take to heart; his eating habits were abominable.
Back on the street they walked slowly through The Circus and onto another road of handsome houses, pretending to be Regency bucks out on the town. Their fake English accents were appalling and their laughter was loud and long. At the Assembly Rooms, frequented by Jane Austen and many of her heroes and heroines, they looked around but empty rooms did not do much for either of them. The tea room, however, was just what they both needed and they were soon ensconced at a corner table with cups of coffee and pieces of homemade chocolate coke.
"I needed that," sighed Jack after his first sip of the espresso. He sat back and looked round, catching the eye of a woman at the next table and smiling.
"Jack …" said Ianto warningly. He shot the other man a withering glance as he put a dainty forkful of cake into his mouth.
"Can't I even look?"
"No. Eat your cake."
"You are such a bully, Ianto Jones. Maybe that's why I like you." He grinned before taking a large bite of cake; no forks for him.
"There's a costume museum downstairs, want to try it?"
"Not much." Another large piece of cake disappeared into Jack's mouth leaving a ring of chocolate icing around it. "But if you want to, we can."
"I'm not that bothered. Wipe your mouth, Jack." There were many times when Ianto felt he was ten times older than the man sitting opposite him. He was as messy as a child!
"What else is there?"
"I think we should do the American Museum this afternoon. It's not open tomorrow whereas the Roman Baths are."
"Don't forget the Spa," reminded Jack, finishing the cake and pointedly wiping his mouth.
"I haven't, that's down for tomorrow too." Ianto sipped his latte, which was almost as good as one of his own. He checked his watch. "It's gone eleven. We could pick the bus up and do the rest of the tour which would take us back to the apartment, more or less. We'll need the car for the American Museum."
"Ought to find somewhere to eat tonight. Think we'll have to book?"
"Would be a good idea, Saturday nights can get busy." He dug around in his pocket for his list and a few brochures. "What do you think of this place?" He handed over a brochure, opened at the restaurant page, and pointed to an entry. "I quite fancy seafood."
"It's close to the apartment too," agreed Jack. "Yeah, let's go for that."
"I'll ring them later."
"Which reminds me. I ought to check in with the troops back in Cardiff." Jack had called the Hub that morning, over breakfast, and Toshiko had reported that all was well. Minimal Rift activity and no other problems.
"Okay. Let's find the bus again and go from there."
A few minutes later, with their coffees drunk, the two men strolled from the Assembly Rooms and went to the nearest tourist bus stop. They had to wait about ten minutes for it and used this time to make their calls. A table for two was booked at the Onefishtwofish restaurant and Gwen reported that all was still under control in Cardiff.
Back on the bus, Jack and Ianto again sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the ride round more of the city, including crossing Pulteney Bridge and seeing the very wide and quite grand Great Pulteney Street. On the way back they passed the restaurant for that evening which pleased Ianto; he always liked to know where they were going ahead of time. The bus dropped them back where they had started, by the Abbey, and the two men walked back to the apartment to collect the car keys ready for their afternoon jaunt.