"Hey Ianto." Captain Jack greeted his employee with extensive enthusiasm as he jogged into the main area of the Torchwood Hub after chatting with Gwen. As he spoke, Jack gave Ianto a rather pleasant shock by slapping his behind before proceeding to present his usual grin-and-wink.
"Er, morning, sir." The receptionist awkwardly replied, smiling a little.
"Damn right it is." Jack was acting oddly eager for once (okay, he generally is but on this day he was overtly so). He then turned to the direction of the mini lab/mortuary and waved over at the doctor who resided there. "Hey, Owen! How's it going? Ha, that rhymed."
"It's going alright, I'm just preparing to delve into this body here." Owen also tried not to act phased by the boss' strange mood.
"That's usually what I say on a Friday night, isn't that right Ianto?" At that point, Gwen skipped over to the group and high-fived Jack.
"One – that was quick." She commented to the boss, who flashed a grin at her.
Ianto looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing, nothing. Hey, aren't we supposed to be interviewing that witness for the last alien sighting? Come on you two, let's get going." Gwen hastily covered up what seemed to be an inside joke of sorts between her and Jack, grabbing her coat ready to head off.
"Are you sure I should come, sir?"
"Always, Ianto." Jack had his stupid grin plastered across his face again while Gwen yelled 'two!'. Ianto furrowed his brow, though he didn't question it this time.
Once the three of them had arrived at the witness' house, Ianto perched on the edge of an old armchair while Jack proudly stood up, his back against the wall. Gwen sunk into the sofa that matched the armchair as she questioned the witness, an old woman in her mid-seventies.
"So, Mrs Santiago, just describe what you saw again for us." The Captain intervened professionally.
"Well, not so much saw, more heard. It was a crashing sound, right outside my house, followed by some heavy breathing – I think someone was running away."
"Ah, that heavy breathing sound. We're familiar with that, aren't we Ianto?" Jack beamed down at his colleague, who glared right back at him, blushing, while Gwen whispered 'three'.
"So, are you two work partners?" The oblivious old lady asked politely, referring to Jack and Ianto.
"Oh, we're more than that, Mrs Santiago. We're gay partners as well. Gay lovers. Boyfriends. Ianto likes us being called a couple, but I don't like that choice of phrasing. You get the idea." As the boss was replying, Ianto's cheeks reddened all the more furiously as he stared at the floor uncomfortably.
"I'm going to count that as two, so that's five now." Gwen spoke with an amused hint to her tone.
"Hm?" The old woman was also confused about what the police lady was talking about.
"Nothing. That's all the questions for now, thank you very much for your help. We'd better be off now, see you later Mrs Santiago." Gwen babbled as she rose from her seat, gesturing for Ianto to do the same. As they exited the house and strolled down the street towards the Torchwood van, she turned to Jack excitably.
"Five! I can't believe you've managed to get to five in, what, half an hour?"
"Seriously, you two, what are you doing?" Ianto chipped in, his tone clipped with frustration at his colleagues.
"You. Well, I'd much rather be right now." Jack replied explicitly, smirking once again.
"That's six now! I don't believe you, Jack." Gwen giggled, glancing sideways at Ianto.
"Okay guys, I've had enough. Whatever you're doing, you'd better tell me right now or I'm not getting in the car." Ianto planted his feet firmly on the pavement, folding his arms and raising his eyebrows as he awaited a valid answer. Jack and Gwen shared a look before Gwen nodded slightly and Jack turned back to Ianto.
"Alright. Basically, Gwen and I had a bet on the amount of times I could blatantly flirt with you before you got angry. Clearly, the answer is six. I'm sorry if we annoyed you, but it was kinda fun. Now please get in the car." The Captain refused to be entirely apologetic over a bit of a laugh.
"Right. Well, please don't do it again. And I hope you lost the bet, sir." On that last cold note, Ianto turned his back on his colleagues as he climbed into the van and buckled his seatbelt, avoiding eye-contact.
"Looks like someone's in trouble…" Although Gwen attempted to act sincere, she couldn't resist smiling a little. She found Jack and Ianto absolutely adorable.
