ix. Epilogue
"So. You have a new flat."
"And you have a new piano."
"What do you think we should do, Jack?"
"I don't know, I really don't. What do you think?"
"Well, a part of me wants to keep wearing jeans to work, grow a beard, and learn to play the piano. The more rational part of my mind keeps begging me to shave, put on a waistcoat for god's sake, and return the piano first thing in the morning."
"I know what you mean. I want to keep the flat, but I don't know whether I'd be doing it because I want to live there, because the little black box made me want to live there, or because I'm too much of a coward to not live there."
"You're not a coward, Jack."
"Apparently I'm a quite a pastry chef, though."
"You do make wonderful biscuits."
"Thank you. Still doesn't solve our problem, though."
"Nope."
"Maybe we need some sort of compromise."
"I'm listening."
"All right, first of all, how about casual weekends?"
"Seriously, Jack?"
"I'm serious. You obviously feel restricted by wearing a suit everyday, even if you won't admit it, so as much as it pains me to suggest, why not dress down on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?"
"Do I have to shave?"
"I personally love a bit of stubble on a man."
"Good to know. And I'll think about it. That addresses one of my apparent issues, what about yours?"
"Which one?"
"Are you really tired of living at the Hub? Because there's nothing keeping you here. We're more than capable of leaving it unattended overnight and routing the systems. We do it every time you come back to mine."
"But I still feel like I'm connected, like I haven't abandoned it."
"It's not a person, Jack. The Hub is a deep, dark, dank hole in the ground. Move out already, it's as bad as living in your mum's basement sometimes."
"That's encouraging."
"It's the truth. More importantly, you deserve it, Jack. I know Torchwood is a big part of who you are and what you do, but it doesn't have to be everything."
"What if there's nothing else?"
"There's us, the rest of the team. There's a city you probably haven't let yourself enjoy in years, people who care about you, a gourmet kitchen waiting at your new flat…"
"So you think I should keep it?"
"I do. You can still spend nights here when you need to, but wouldn't you like to call someplace your own? Your home?"
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Would you still move in?"
"And give up my flat?"
"Yes."
"I don't know. That was one of the more impulsive decisions we made."
"You don't think backdating our registration for a civil partnership trumps moving in together?"
"Well, yes, it certainly does. But that was easily fixed. Registration deleted, appointment canceled, situation contained."
"Ianto, we were ready to get married. To each other."
"We were ready to get married. We happened to be with each other at the time."
"So you're saying we just settled for one another?"
"I didn't say that. We weren't thinking clearly. There was no inner voice telling us we shouldn't do it."
"And now there is."
"Now there is."
"I hate the voices in my head sometimes."
"It's not telling me it's a bad idea, if that helps. Just that now is not the time. I'm not ready."
"No, me neither. I like the idea, though."
"I do too. Someday."
"So what about the flat?"
"We already work together, Jack. Maybe having our own places would allow us a bit of breathing room when we need it."
"Or maybe we could have sex every day and save money while we're at it."
"We already have sex every day, and we don't need the money. You proved that when you picked the most expensive flat in the building."
"It was the kitchen."
"Then I expect haute cuisine at least once a week."
"I liked the roof, too."
"I look forward to brooding on it with you."
"I'm replacing brooding with 'having sex'. So what about the piano?"
"I don't know. I'd like to keep it, but I don't have room at my flat. Maybe I'll take it back and put the money toward that Aston Martin you mentioned."
"That's a good idea."
"You only live once, after all. Well, the rest of us. Not you, obviously."
"Obviously. You could always keep the piano at my flat and save for the car."
"That might work. Give me a reason to invite myself over."
"You don't need a reason, you know that. You're welcome any time."
"Thanks. Are you going to say something about tickling your ivories?"
"I'm trying to stay serious, but you can push my pedals anytime. So are we okay, then?"
"We're fine, Jack. Although everyone knows about us now. We weren't very discreet."
"Apparently we didn't want to keep it secret."
"I guess not. It'll be good not to hide everything. We should tone it down around the others, though."
"Why? I love getting a rise out of Owen, and you know Tosh thinks we're adorable."
"Most of Owen's reactions are directed toward me. And while Tosh might coo about it, I'm not sure I could handle Gwen's dirty looks."
"She's just jealous."
"Of course she is. I'm quite a catch."
"I think so."
"Then it's settled. You keep the flat, I'll keep the piano. At least something good came out of all this."
"Oh, it wasn't all bad. There were other good things about it."
"That's right, your muffins were amazing."
"That's not what I was talking about."
"What then? Because while the sex was as spectacular as always, we did embarrass ourselves a bit."
"Well, we learned something."
"What's that? Other than you have an inner Jacques Pepin and I have an inner Vladimir Horowitz waiting to escape?"
"We learned that deep down, we like each other. A lot. We want to be together, and it's not just about the spectacular sex."
"Jack…"
"It's true. I asked you to move in with me because I wanted to live with you, and you said yes because you wanted to live with me."
"You wanted someone to share your kitchen with."
"And you wanted someone to share your home with."
"Jack, you're making it more complicated than it really is."
"It's actually very simple. Someday I'll ask again, and you'll say yes again."
"If we're ready."
"When we're ready, Ianto."
"You're such an optimist."
"Only when it comes to you. Because I know you."
"And way too sentimental. We've been here long enough. Let's go home."
"Which one?"
"You haven't moved into yours yet, so it'll have to be mine. Want to cook a nice dinner?"
"You know I'm getting over that, right?"
"Does that mean cooking naked is out of the question?"
"Depends—what's on the menu?"
"I'm sure we can think of something we'll both enjoy."
"Naked?"
"Definitely naked."
"Then I do."
Author's Note:
The end! I know it would have been great to see Jack and Ianto keep their appointment, but that was never in the cards. I'm a (mostly) canon girl and this is a (mostly) canon story. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm a little bit stunned at how quickly this popped out, and all from the very striking image of Jack baking and bringing in muffins for the team. I literally wrote a story around that idea! It's been fun, though.
Stay tuned for more stories. This (mostly) canon girl is getting closer and closer to going AU, although maybe I'll finish up some one shots first. Thank you again for reading and for all the lovely reviews!
