No spoilers.

Beta-ed: GlassSplinter

The next day was uneventful, except that Ianto got his rough against-the-file-cabinet sex. The only thing was that Ianto could write himself a point in his score list. Jack went down to the archives after him, but he wasn't in the mood to be submissive. In the middle of the Hub where they could easily be caught, being in charge was the least he could do for his self-esteem. Jack didn't seem to mind when he thrust him against drawers. On the contrary, he laughed lustfully.

"Oh Ianto, you're good," Jack said while he was dressing. "What do you think, would the others be suspicious if I put some beds into the archives?"

"It would seem a bit odd, sir," Ianto replied with a small smile.

"I suppose, but it wasn't abad idea." He went up while still buttoning his shirt.

On the way up Jack considered why, in time, he'd begun to prefer men. This planet was to blame for that. Most of all he loved to explore, and try out new people. He did it without a second thought. It wasn't something he had to justify. Not in his time and space. There, silly old superstition and inhibitions were abandoned for a more relaxed way of doing things; especially when reproduction wasn't bound to sex, or women. He fell on this Earth so far back in time that touching women could bring you whole lot of trouble. He'd learned that quickly. He wasn't that fast at learning the rules of handling women. Only one rule was about handling men, and it was simple; you had to do it in secret. That he learned easily, because it was fun, the rush of all that adrenalin. He'd learned that when he was here the first time around. He only had to recognise the right kind of men, and that was a piece of cake, at least for him. Sometimes one glance was enough.

With women on the other hand, you could play all the cards right and she would turn in the last moment and accuse you of abuse. It was frustrating. Not to mention all the present guilt that turned them into furies after everything, especially if the sex was good, and with him it was. He kept his distance, but some women were all too tempting. For them he tried to do everything right, he really did, and sometimes it worked and they seemed happy. When he got more confident in himself he'd even decided to follow it through all the way. It seemed that here all women wanted were children, and so came Alice. A beautiful child of his, and it seemed right in the beginning, before his failure to grow old caught up with him. It wasn't vanity, he thought, which made his wife hate him with such passion, it was abandonment. Not only that he couldn't look old, but he couldn't really be old with her, he couldn't follow her into changing, he couldn't be still, stop moving, stop fighting, stop sacrificing. It wasn't their love that died, it was the belief that he would be there for her. In the end he finally got what marriage was all about, and what the women here wanted. And it wasn't something he could give. It was about time, the time you vow to spend together, to accompany each other into death. To suffer for the children that you have, or not, to count down the days together. She didn't blame him for the people he'd met while she was around, but for the people that would follow her. Somehow he'd managed to cheat on her in whole eternity, and rob her of her eternal companion in the afterlife. Sometimes, when he was especially susceptible to guilt, he pictured her still mad on the other side, mad and alone.

Time passed and changes happened, and women today looked different from a hundred years ago, but still. Still it was a game, game with an end. Now they had a trial period, when they could play, and explore, but still on that play was attached ticking clock. Time was ticking, saying hurry to them, hurry, your train will be gone, your kids will be gone, because children still depended on them, and they still got really mad if they discovered that you stole some of their time, that you weren't playing for real, that you were just wasting time.

That's why men were still way more fun than women. They could play, could have some sex and move on without redundant expectations. Without that deep search in their eyes in an attempt to discover some hidden and deep emotions; he liked to keep those buried deep, thank you.

Time passed and changes happened, and women looked different today then a hundred years ago, but still. Still it was a game, game with an end. Now they had trial period, when they could play, and explore, but still on that play was attached ticking clock. Time was ticking saying hurry to them, hurry your train will be gone, your kids will be gone, because children still depends on them, and they still get really mad if they discover that you stole some of their time, that you wasn't playing for real, that you were just wasting time.

That's why men were still way more fun, than women. They could play, could have some sex and move on without redundant expectation. Without that deep search in your eyes in attempt to discover some hidden and deep emotions; he liked to keep that one's buried deep, thank you.