10
"So I have a date," Ianto announced when both Kieran and Daniel were chilled and lulled into that part of the night where things tended to get deep. Kieran sat upright; Daniel raised an eyebrow. Pretty much the reactions Ianto had expected from his best friends.
"With tall, dark and sexy?" Kieran asked.
"No, with the other guy he was interested in," Daniel snarked.
Thus ensued a fight with a roll of Pringles, most of which ended up crunched into the floor, and Daniel face-first on the couch with Kieran sitting on him. For a small guy, Kieran was pretty damn fierce.
They dusted off, laughing like idiots, and Ianto waited patiently for the chaos to end.
"Yes," he finally said. "With Jack. Tomorrow at the bar."
"Oh, did you know Idris said he's changing the name of the bar?" Daniel asked out of left field; he did that a lot.
"What to?" Daniel asked.
"He's calling it The Alibi, which is cool."
For that, Kieran got another Pringle thrown at him, but this time Ianto didn't let the whole thing deteriorate.
"Guys, focus."
Kieran and Daniel both looked at him.
"Your blue shirt, with the dark jeans," Kieran said, after a pause and with a wide teasing grin.
"What?" Ianto wasn't following this.
"We're discussing what you're wearing, right?" Kieran deadpanned.
"You going to the hair salon?" Daniel joined in, setting Kieran off laughing again. "Get your roots touched-up?"
Ianto banged the back of his head on the sofa. So much for supportive, non-idiot friends.
"Guys," he began, loudly enough to stop Kieran laughing and at the same time get Daniel's attention. "At least one of us is guaranteed to get laid."
That shut them up, and silence reigned for a good few seconds, until abruptly it was his turn to be pelted with Pringles.
Yeah, they both clearly thought him dating Jack would be a good thing.
.
.
.
.
Ianto took a stool at the bar, leaned on the counter and watched Idris work at the huge coffee machine that was his pride and joy.
"Hey," Idris said when he turned with coffee for a tourist. They didn't get many tourists in town, but Ianto internally winced. He knew the town so well he could tell who didn't fit here. The only out-of-town people they saw were people who stayed in the cabins, but even then no one stayed in Holywell to drink beer or coffee. Not Idris' coffee anyway. Ianto had given up trying to show him the correct way to use that beast of a machine.
"Hey," Ianto answered. "Can I get a beer?"
Idris passed over an ice-cold beer, Ianto's usual on the nights he could actually enjoy a cold one.
"Your guy was in the corner, but he got up and left about five minutes ago," Idris said and nodded his head toward the far corner.
"He left? And, wait, what do you mean, my guy?"
Idris shrugged. "He said he'd be back in five and to save the table, so I assumed."
"He did?"
Idris made a shooing motion with his hands, and Ianto raised his bottle in salute before crossing to the table. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he passed the end of the bar, and thought he even looked good tonight. He'd followed Kieran's weird advice and worn the blue shirt and the dark jeans and taken the time to attempt to style his hair, although it was already flopping a little over his right eye.
"Looking good, Ianto," someone called.
Ianto went scarlet and hurried to the table, sliding into the seat with his back to the door. No way did he want to acknowledge the person who had called that out, although he suspected from the deep tone that it had been Lethgren.
The damn man had winked at him twice today and nodding his head at Jack at the same time. Jack who'd been diligently doing whatever assistants to the Mayor did while Ianto completed paperwork on the Duncan incident. They hadn't talked to each other in the office. There was this buzz between them, anticipation, and the exchange of soft smiles. It was all Ianto could do not to tell Jack how gorgeous he looked in his suit, but then that would mean crossing a line at work.
Right?
A hand touched his shoulder, but he didn't flinch—he knew it was Jack, although he didn't know how.
"Hi," Jack said, and slid into the seat facing him. "Sorry, I forgot this." He slid a bag across the table. "It's for you," he added unnecessarily. "Instead of flowers or whatever."
Jack dipped his gaze momentarily, and Ianto was unaccountably pleased to see that there was a chink in the big man that was Jack Harkness.
He reached into the bag and pulled out a plastic toy, a Dalmatian wearing a bright yellow fire hat, with a hose coiled around his butt and holding the other end of the hose in his mouth.
"You said you like fire fighters," Jack said, "and there wasn't much choice in the store."
Ianto smiled and turned the toy over in his hand, "I'll put this on my desk at work."
Even in the gloom of this corner of the bar, Ianto saw the way Jack wrinkled his nose and smiled back. "That's cool."
Ianto put the dog back in the bag. "I didn't get you anything," he said.
Jack rolled his broad shoulders. "It was just a small funny gag gift, no biggie. I saw it and thought of you."
Something passed between them, and Ianto thought it was a mix of "let's eat" with a whole lot of "let's go home and fuck." Thankfully for his sanity, Idris interrupted.
"Special tonight is three-alarm chili or chicken surprise." Ianto had heard the patented Idris chicken-surprise joke before, but Jack hadn't, and he fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"What's the surprise?"
"It's lamb," Idris deadpanned.
Jack blinked up at Idris for a moment, then smiled widely. "Chicken surprise for me."
"I'll have the chili," Ianto said, then realized he'd lefthimself wide open.
"Hmmm," Idris began. "At least you have a fire fighter who can help you handle the heat."
Ianto groaned and watched Idris leave. "Twat," he muttered under his breath.
"I like him," Jack said, and shrugged when Ianto looked at him pointedly. "He's funny. I like this whole town."
"You do?" Ianto loved Holywell; he'd been born here, grown up here, and though his parents had moved away, there was no way he was leaving Holywell for a while. Yes, it was run down in places, yes, the recession had bitten hard, and yes, some families had moved away, but it was home, and he loved it.
"You sound surprised. I think Holywell has a lot going for it." Jack leaned forward over the table and dropped his voice. "Including the sexy man sitting right in front of me."