Chapter Thirty Seven
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Slowly reaching across Jack to retrieve his watch then holding it up to catch the first beams of sunlight; with them being diffused by the thin curtaining material up at the window, Ianto just managed to pick out that the small hand was on the six and that the big was on the two.
For easier access next time, and stifling a yawn, he placed the watch behind him on the bed then rolled back into place behind Jack. Wrapping his arm around him and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of one shoulder, he gazed, mesmerised, by the peacefulness of the body lying once again in his hold.
Earlier in the evening he'd have put money on the man's disturbed state of mind gifting him nothing but a night filled with hours of equally as disturbed sleep
But now, still oblivious not only to the world, but also to the fact that the first morning of their holiday had already begun, Jack was sleeping soundly on.
Drawing in, then releasing one audible nasal breath after another, the man appeared to be physically sound … But mentally? Ianto knew that he was wrecked.
He smiled to himself, remembering how Jack had clung on tightly as soon as they'd gotten back and then had another bit of a cry.
But, of course, the beans on toast had cheered him up. It had been rewarding to just sit there and watch him tuck in; his sniffs dissipating and his smile gradually becoming wider with every mouthful.
Once they'd finished their milky coffees he'd run Jack a bath. With having only a shower back home this was a luxury that he was looking forward to experiencing himself at some stage over the next week or so.
After frothing up the obligatory bubbles and settling him back onto a blow-up neck brace, he'd left Jack to soak away, then made himself useful by clearing up the mess in the kitchen.
Mulling over the day's events and putting the cups and plates away, he'd come to the decision that he was totally justified in feeling quietly proud over how he'd, so far, dealt with each situation as it had arisen. A growing strength deep down inside was giving him a sense of satisfaction that he'd not felt since his busy days down at the club.
Not many people around that time had realised the fact, but it hadn't just been physical support that he'd offered his protégés during those long nights. And then, at that time, as now with Jack, he could tell that he'd been needed; appreciated.
Over the next fifteen minutes, or so, his confidence had continued to bolster. He'd tidied round with a flourish; humming happily away as he'd moved from spot to spot across the living room.
It was only as he'd found himself back in his and Jack's bathroom that he'd unexpectedly had a little moment all of his own.
Seeing Jack, lying back with his eyes closed; still surrounded by bubbles and finally looking at peace with the world, he'd tried to imagine just how lost and so very lonely the man must have been feeling over that Christmas period. For a young guy that was so blessed, and not just in the looks department, he must have sunken as low as he could possibly have gone if he'd felt the need to go to such lengths just to gain attention.
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Of course, thinking thoughts like those about Jack was only ever going to have brought back unhappy memories of his own, and it was with those sullen thoughts in mind that he'd found himself wondering if maybe that was what the attraction, with him, was for Jack.
After all, as appearances went, he wasn't exactly in the same league as him, now was he ….. So maybe the fact that they'd each survived so many problems was the real reason for Jack appreciating his company so much ….. he was hoping that, finally, he'd found somebody who was as fucked in the head as he was.
Well, he wouldn't be far wrong there; would he…..
He could sympathise with Jack on so many levels, had had so many desperate moments himself when he was younger. And it was recalling one of those moments that had seen him start to shed a tear or two of his own, then dash back into the bedroom before Jack could witness his distressed state.
Sensing movement, Jack had called out to him. But calling back from the relative safety of their room he'd palmed him off with the excuse that he just had to nip back and check that he'd locked all the doors.
Finally, he'd returned to have a quick shower whilst Jack had dried off. Then he'd taken the man to bed and revealed, in great detail, the fourth element to his recovery plan for him.
Unsure if the final 'B' on his list would be appropriate, he'd left it until the last minute to announce that the receiving of a blow job might prove to be the ultimate distraction that was needed, and making him comfortable on the bed he'd made a point of kissing every part of Jack's body before gently licking and sucking him to a release that was so explosive it had seen him twisting his fingers in his hair and trembling uncontrollably in just trying to reach that crucial point.
Initially hoping that his use of the different technique might relax him, and wanting Jack to experience, tonight of all nights, the joys of a slow build, he'd taken his time; had spent far longer than usual in teasing him with his tongue. Then after gently nibbling for a while and swirling his tongue slowly around it, he'd finished the task by sucking softly around just the glans but no more.
After moaning and writhing through the initial ache to grow tantalisingly closer, Jack had gradually become a twitching and flinching mess, and as his slow and drawn out climax had finally hit him he'd tensed; a sharp cry choking around the gasp of a name that had suddenly caught at the back of his throat. Finally hitching up with one relieved grunt, he'd shuddered and strained out several strangled gasps as he'd unloaded.
As he'd heard them leave Jack, those animalistic noises had signified a job well done and had prompted him to quicken his hand movements around himself in response.
As Jack had dug his fingers into his skull, his cock straining hard in his mouth, jet after jet of hot cum had pumped out to slide down his throat; barely touching the sides, and kneeling over Jack, with the sensation of his flesh still pulsing on his tongue, his own load had shot through his fingers to coast over one thigh and, ultimately, christen the bed cover.
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So now, it was finally morning, and here Jack was, sated and sleeping like a baby. And here he was, wrapping his arm back around the man, keeping him safe ….. and wondering at what stage the shite was going to hit the fan.
Too good to be true, he'd already decided, that's what this was. How long would it be before Jack managed to wreck this dream for him? Dragged him savagely away from it? Dumped him unceremoniously on his arse …. leaving him with a voice at the back of his head telling him in such a smug fucking way that …. 'I told you so' ?
Right now, in what should have been a moment of comforting bliss, an inner instinct was telling him to move away from the man, to not allow himself to get too close emotionally and was insisting that he deny him that chance, the chance to break his heart; leave him damaged almost beyond repair all over again.
But instead, and in choosing to ignore every single piece of his own sound advice, he tightened his hold; breathed in the calming muskiness of the man in his arms then beginning to doze again let himself sink slowly into the comforting feel of having Jack's hot skin pressing against his own.
And, eventually; just as he'd hoped they might, all of those negative thoughts started to disappear … allowing him to re-join the man of his dreams in dreamland.
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Aware of a sudden brightness and an unusual sense of warmth, Jack felt compelled to find its origins. Opening his eyes he found himself staring at a pair of thin, pale blue and lemon curtains.
Ohhhhhhh, yeah … he was in Ibiza, wasn't he; the sunny Med.
And he was here with ….
Oh, yeah ….hmmmmmmmm.
Angling his head downward he took in the sight of the strong, muscular forearm around his middle. The dark hairs enshrouding it, he quickly decided, were very, very sexy and began to wonder how he'd never noticed them before.
Hastily dragging him away from the memory of what the mouth of the owner of that sexy arm had been doing to him the night before, he was suddenly reminded of events leading up to that moment …. and its consequent necessity.
Shit.
But not shit in an ….. 'oh shit I wish I hadn't done that ' …. kinda way.
Ianto had been so brilliant, hadn't he? No …. Wait ….. He'd been more than brilliant ….. he'd been …. there for him. Despite everything thrown at him, he'd stuck around; had not been appalled by him. And if anything … they seemed to be even closer than before.
Shit.
But in a good …. 'shit, I can't believe this is actually happening' ….. kinda way.
Focussing on the comforting limb again, he wrapped a hand around it and gave a gentle squeeze. As Ianto stirred behind him he leaned back onto him and drawing in a deep breath, smiled happily as he was greeted with …..
"Bore da, Jack."
The Welsh tones, he noted, had been deliberately accentuated. "Hey, mornin' Yan. How ya doin'?" He twisted his head around and greeted the face now frowning down at him, with a big cheesy grin.
Pulling his lips into a tight chiding line, Ianto was already shaking his head forlornly at him. "You can throw that Yankee twang around all you like ….. but you'll always be a Cardiff born Welsh boy at heart."
With his grin growing impossibly wide, the bed bounced as the spangled dragon twisted quickly on the spot. And gasping inward to keep a firm hold on the chance that he might have a dose of dog-breath, Jack leaned in for a quick peck. "Oh, my mom's gonna absolutely love you ….."
"Oh, my God ….." His hands covering his face in a show of faux horror, Ianto fell, in a fairly dramatic fashion, for him, onto his back. "We're at the in-laws' stage already."
Resting on his side and propping himself up on one elbow, Jack peered down with an unmistakable fondness. "Did I mention that nowadays my mom is really chilled out? I mean, reeeeeally laid back in a very 'casual' kinda way?"
"If you did, I missed it." Behind his hands Ianto started to smile and chuckled as a body appeared above him to slowly compress him into the mattress.
"What have I done to deserve you, Ianto Jones?"
"That's funny ….." With Jack propping himself up on both elbows this time, Ianto parted his hands to smile up at him. "I was just thinking the same thing myself."
"What? What have you done to deserve 'me', you mean?" Jack couldn't stop the show of delight from spreading across his face.
"No, numpty. I was thinking something more along the lines of 'what the hell have 'you' done to deserve me', as well."
He yelped as Jack dropped from his elbows, allowing him to dig a finger or two into his sides and before either of them knew it, they were rolling to and fro on the bed in a show of strength … …. A demonstration of strength and power that would, of course, be ultimately nullified by the amount of girly giggling coming from both men.
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"Yan? I was thinking ….. we could have a wander round the resort first. You know, dive into a few of those little souvenir shops; check out the beach to see if it's worth sitting on, have a spot of lunch, then just come back here and chill around the pool for the rest of the day."
Reaching in to turn on the spray, Jack turned away from the shower to find Ianto looking up from his shaving bag and frowning into the mirror at him.
"Do we really have to do the shops today? We've got a week and a half to search for souvenirs."
Stepping into the cubicle, Jack pulled the door closed behind him. "Ah, c'mohhhhn! You gotta hit the little places, Yan. They're great. Nearly everything they sell is shaped like a …."
"Yes, thank you, I do know what they sell …. and I also know what some of those items are shaped like. I just don't see what the great urgency is to actually go visit the places so soon. They'll still be there tomorrow, you know."
The lid of a plastic bottle was flicked open with a whine. "But I wanna go today ….."
"Fine, but you'll be going on your own. I'll just laze around the pool in the sun until you get back."
"Really? You'd rather stay here than go with me?"
Ianto's first instinct was to relent and admit that, right now, he'd go any fucking where he wanted, but determined to win their second battle of the morning, he went with a determined …. "Exactly." …. instead.
"Oh …"
A splurge of shampoo left the end of a bottle and water began to splash noisily against the glass as Jack scrubbed his fingers into his hair.
Lifting a disposable razor to his right cheek, Ianto flinched as Michael Jackson suddenly appeared in the room to join in with their ablutions.
"Out of my liiiiiiiiiife … He's out of my liiiiiiiife …. And I don't know wheth ….. ER … to laugh or cry …. I don't know whether to ( the volume increased again ) LIVE OR DIIIIIIIIIIIIIE …. And it …."
"Okay, okay ….. I'll go shopping with you … Just shut the fuck up!"
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Aside from the soft spraying of water, an eerie stillness filled the room.
Ianto stared at the reflection of the shower cubicle behind him. He could make out Jack's outline; hands still on his head, paused mid-scrub.
As the hands began to move again and water began to splash around once more, Ianto gave himself a satisfied nod in the mirror then twisting his features to one side, began to drag the blade around one corner of his mouth.
A second later the razor was hitting the sink with a clatter of plastic.
"Baaack in my liiiiiiiiiife ….. He's baaaack in my liiiiiiife ….. "
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"Thanks for the lift, Hector ….."
Closing the door behind him, Jack waved in at their 'chaperone' as he drove off in the direction of the next resort.
"That was well timed." Performing a three sixty and taking in their surroundings before stopping to watch the car as it disappeared off down the strip, Ianto clutched at his stomach as it rumbled loudly.
"Yeah … nice of him to stop like that." Jack turned to look at him. "I told you to have breakfast; you're starving now, admit it."
Screwing his face up as he hedged. "I s'pose it's still too early for lunch …" Ianto followed Jack as he crossed over to get to the beach side of the road.
"That's why they invented brunch, Yan, so that people like you can play catch up."
"And, presumably, so that people like you could grab a bit more …..?"
As he turned away from the kids playing ball, the couple splashing each other on their way back into the shallow parts, and the one lone wind-surfer making a pitiful attempt at staying upright, Jack's grin was as expected. "Eggzactly!"
Shaking his head and laughing as, with a child-like eagerness, the man wandered off without him again, Ianto began to follow Jack back across the road.
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Chewing considerately on yet another piece of omelette, Ianto was keeping one eye on Jack … ( who, in looking down at his plate and being completely oblivious to everything else, was eating his own egg-based brunch ) … whilst his other was keeping watch on the young guy sat to the right of, and just behind, him.
Under normal circumstances it would've been the person's good looks that were holding his attention. Today, however, he was simply keeping a check on the amount of attention that this particular person was paying to Jack; the constant bouts of staring over were becoming annoyingly blatant … to the point of being downright rude.
He wasn't happy.
He knew he couldn't blame Jack; it wasn't his fault that he had this natural ability to attract others. And he also couldn't help being his usual exuberant self; regardless of location or situation. That was just … Jack.
But, today, Ianto was finding himself wishing that Jack would maybe tone it down …. just a little.
He didn't have a problem with anyone else in the place. Others had arrived, had had a coffee and then gone again, but their show of interest had, at least, been discreet.
This other guy, however, was now just getting on his tits. He felt like walking over there and confronting him; telling him to keep his nose in his magazine and to consider minding his own fucking business.
He wasn't a holiday maker, but he was definitely British; he had a northern accent and it'd soon become apparent that he worked in the resort in some capacity. A few of the individuals that had come in to order a takeaway snack had called over to him; asking if he was working this evening. His reply each time had been a negative.
He'd give him negative. If the fucker looked over one more time he was gonna go over there and … no …wait …. he'd promised Jack he'd control his temper from now on.
Bollocks.
"Here ya go, gents …. Get there before eleven and it's free entry. The spirits are cheap and the birds are even cheaper! … Cheaper! … Geddit?"
Resisting the urge to tell the young kid suddenly blocking his view to fuck off while he was eating, Ianto, instead, took the flyer from him and nodded a fairly friendly thank you as he strolled over to the next unsuspecting couple.
Placing it on the table next to his cup of coffee he looked up to find Jack grinning at him. "What?"
The tip of Jack's tongue made an appearance to be quickly nipped between his front teeth. And with his eyes all a twinkle he started to chuckle across the table.
Smiling at him, and assuming that he'd only just gotten the joke, Ianto shook his head. "Oh, come on … it wasn't that funny."
"That guy thinks we're after girls."
"Hmm ….. I did notice." Secretly pleased that Jack hadn't been amused by such a crap gag after all, Ianto couldn't help but laugh, himself, at the situation. "Bit insulted if I'm honest. I mean, do I really look like a cheap bird type of bloke to you?"
As Jack's head flew back and he howled with laughter, Ianto found a reason for not feeling so good humoured himself. As every other person in the place had paused to pay attention to Jack, matey-boy was using the fact as an excuse to have a good old gawp.
Bastard!
Any minute now …. Seriously! He meant it this time! … God, he was gonna have him …. The arrogant cunt was asking for a thrashing ….. It was clear, now, that some teeth needed to be removed with his right fist.
Completely aware of the impact that his next course of action was going to have on the wanker, he slowly let his eyes slide over in his direction.
As they met, gaze for gaze, across the room, the guy shot his attention back down to his magazine.
Ianto, in turn, sneered disdainfully at the top of the 'irritating cunt's' head.
Jack caught the gesture and took a peak over his right shoulder. "What's the look for?" All he could see was a mop of blond hair reading a magazine.
"Nothin'" Suddenly losing his appetite Ianto allowed his fork to clatter onto his plate and gave a loud sigh. "Are you finished? Let's have a bit of a wander round then we can check out the shops." Reaching for his wallet he signalled over to the waitress.
"Yan, what's going on? What's wrong? Are you okay? You haven't finished your meal yet, I thought you were hungry."
Ianto instantly drew a certain amount of comfort from the fact that Jack was concerned about him and, for a change, not just interested in polishing off what he'd left on his plate.
He forced a smile to ease his worry. "I'm fine … just wasn't as hungry as my stomach was making out, that's all."
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"Let's go to the right first, I want to check out the other end of the harbour."
With Ianto having paid the bill and hastily exiting the place first, Jack nudged into him playfully as they set off in the direction of the harbour's main wall. "You're determined to make me wait to get to those shops, aren't you …."
"No …" Ianto paused to smile and allow a woman pushing her husband in a wheelchair to cross their path, then carried on. "But I am determined that I'm going to carry anything you decide to buy, around with me for as little time as possible."
"Smart ass."
"You love my 'ass'."
His half-lidded appearance transforming into a wink, Jack's look was unmistakably lecherous. "Oh, you better believe it, honey."
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Both grinning like mad, they made a concerted effort to cover the last fifty yards needed to get to the end of the small harbour. There was mainly small fishing boats moored up there, bobbing in the wake of a booze cruise vessel as it made its way past further out.
After watching a variety of birds peck away at what was left of a pile of fish guts on the quayside, they made their way back to the small row of bars and restaurants that had obviously been a recent addition to this end of the resort.
"Fancy a beer?" Ianto nodded at the first of three bars sat side by side on the end of the row.
"Sure …. But are you quite sure you're not still trying to get out of doing a spot of souvenir hunting?"
Knowing that Jack was only joking, Ianto laughed along with him. "One beer, I promise …. It can be our equivalent of your customary welcome meeting, drink …. But without the presence of an annoying holiday rep trying to get you to fork out for pointless trips to watch rugs being made, of course."
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The open-fronted bar was split into three levels that sat one behind the other. The first two were made up of expanses of wooden boarding that was littered with a variety of tables and chairs; the ones at pavement level having a parasol for obvious reasons.
The top level was the main bar area and, significantly larger than the other two, it had several two seater sofas arranged in a willy-nilly fashion, a ridiculous amount of plants with wide fronds that took your eye out every time you walked past, and a pool table sitting at the edge closest to the harbour.
They chose the table furthest back on the second level so that they could still see the harbour … but could also check out the game of pool that was being played inside. Or rather, the two guys playing it.
As a waiter placed a beer mat and then his drink in front of him, Ianto smiled gratefully.
Jack watched his glass leave the tray and then settle down before him. "Gracias."
The waiter smiled and wandered away with his now empty tray smacking against the tip of his elbow in time to the music.
"Show off! Fucking gracias! Who d'you think you are …. sodding Antonio Bandwhateverhisnameis?" Ianto took a sip of his local beer and came away with the cute addition of a line of white froth covering his top lip.
Now preoccupied with something much more interesting, Jack ignored the taunt briefly to announce. "Have you any idea how much I want to lick your face right now?"
With the man now carving a Z in the air with his imaginary sword, Ianto gave a forced sigh. "And they say romance is dead."
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"I can't believe you actually bought it … you do realise you've got to carry it back through customs, don't you."
Ignoring Ianto's chastising tone, Jack peeled open first one, then a second plastic carrier to eventually find what he was looking for, then peered inside with a grin. "It can go inside my case … Mind you, by next Tuesday we'll probably be bored with it; I'll just leave it here as a gift for Jerry if it comes to that."
"Well if you think you're using it on me you can think again. I've had first-hand experience of the real thing now, so you are not substituting yourself with that thing." Ianto looked up quickly to see how far they'd gotten. "Ooh. There's that shop I wanted to go back in to. You'll have to wait out here; you bought stuff in here last time and we don't want them accusing you of shop-lifting, now do we?"
As Ianto disappeared through the hanging display of blow-up rubber rings and plastic crocodiles, Jack sat himself down on the small wall outside and prepared to watch the world go by.
Inside, Ianto circumnavigated the china plates, vases, bottle openers and soft toys to get to the section at the back. Purposefully ignoring what Jack had already nicknamed the phallus palace ( a display of various ornaments forged into the shape of something not too dissimilar to what the man was currently hiding in a bag outside ) he found the shelf filled with books, and moving further along to overlook the well-thumbed copies of the Karma Sutra, he instead went for the playing card option. He was going to save them for Wednesday. He felt a game or two of strip poker coming on and was thinking that the cards might serve to make the outcome to each one just slightly more memorable.
After paying for them he made his way back to the front of the shop but stopped the second he realised that, standing over Jack, and talking away nineteen to the dozen, was the wanker from where they'd earlier eaten brunch.
Hiding behind a rotating display of fridge magnets he watched as the guy pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket then 'borrowing' a pen from the display outside on the pavement, proceeded to write something ( which Ianto was assuming to be a phone number ) down on it.
He waited for the guy to walk off with a wave then made his way back outside.
By the time he got there the piece of paper was nowhere to be seen and Jack just smiled up at him; making no reference to the fact that the guy had been there whatsoever.
Ianto's heart sank.
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As they walked back home …. back along that dusty road, he decided to give Jack the benefit of the doubt. What he'd witnessed might have been totally innocuous. And, after all, they'd reached a new level of understanding … of trust. If this was something worth knowing about … then Jack would've mentioned it by now.
Yep, he'd just leave the issue alone completely, he finally decided. Something as insignificant as this wasn't worth ruining the holiday for, was it. And, anyway, Jack was entitled to 'play' just as much as he was.
The only thing eating away at him, now, was that although knowing that he'd joked about it happening since they'd arrived here ….. he'd not really expected either of them to be going down that particular route over the next nine days.
For the first time in his adult life, suddenly the notion of 'playing' was holding no interest for Ianto Jones whatsoever.
God, he was fucked.
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Again, in something that was beginning to become a bit of a habit, Jack thanked Hector for the lift. They would have made it back into the resort before nightfall anyway, but, even so, they were still appreciative of the ride.
"Okay …" As the car pulled away, he looked up and down the row of options and then back to Ianto. "Which one do you wanna try first? Quiet, mediocre or bustling?"
"Let's go for mediocre." Ianto decided, making his way over to a place that had already caught his eye.
They sat themselves at the bar and a young girl got them a beer each.
"It's been a good first day." Jack picked up his bottle and held the neck across the gap.
Ianto smiled and picking up his own bottle, clinked them gently together.
Jack looked around, taking in both their surroundings and the other holiday makers. "Do you wanna make it a late one tonight? We could always try that place where the birds go cheap."
Slurping on his bottle, Ianto looked up, startled. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time you encouraged me to engage with a woman?"
"That wasn't a woman ….." Jack pointed out, laughing at the week-old memory. "That was Ellie."
"True …." Ianto started to laugh himself. "And, anyway, it's never a good idea with best friends."
As they chuckled away, oblivious of what was going on around them, they discussed the previous weekend with a mixture of embarrassment and humour, then recalled their afternoon of sunning it round the pool and pondered over the non-merits of the frozen pizzas they'd each consumed before leaving the villa earlier.
"Give it a couple of hours I'll be game for a Chinese, or something." Ianto gestured over to the girl to get them another couple of beers.
"I don't think they've got one here, have they?" Jack sounded as disappointed as he looked. "How about we try that steak-house instead?"
Seeing Ianto's expression change dramatically, he looked back over his shoulder to see what had caught his eye. And it was then that he just knew that the evening wasn't going to go as well as he'd been hoping it might.
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As he sauntered over to join them, Ianto stared hard at the guy from earlier.
To Jack's credit he didn't try to hide anything. "Yan, this is Mark, I met him earlier while you were in that shop."
With the wanker holding out one hand, expecting a shake, just one phrase was flashing through Ianto's mind…..'of all the bars in all the world' ….. and what it made worse was that it had been him that'd chosen this fucking bar.
He shook anyway. But didn't bother returning the smile being offered.
Jack pretended not to notice the awkwardness between the two men. "Mark, here, does a couple a night's dj-ing at one of the other clubs in this resort ….. and he has folks living in the States."
" Fascinating."
If the atmosphere were to grow any colder, Jack considered, there was a very good chance of his beer freezing solid.
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Safe to say, that from that moment on, the conversation didn't exactly flow freely….. and as Mark had wittered away about his aunties and his uncles and his cousins and about how wonderful their life was, Jack had listened politely while Ianto had looked up at the wall behind the bar, ignoring the man completely and demonstrating blatantly that he was totally disinterested.
Jack had tried to include him in the conversation, but it was obvious that, not only did he have no interest in what was being said, but had also already formed a distinct disliking of the man.
Not wanting to be rude, now, with the guy, any more than he had earlier in the day, Jack felt he had no option other than to sit there and listen to him. It wasn't that he was uninterested himself, not by any means, it was just that the guy was coming across as a bit creepy; it seemed that his obsession with the fact that he was from the States was teetering on the edge of being stalkerish.
For an hour the guy had stood there. Jack was almost praying that Ianto might consider using his fists soon and get him off the hook. Especially when this Mark leaned in closer to whisper something in his ear; something that he couldn't even make out anyway, and caused Ianto's nostrils to flare.
"Hey, Jack, come over here a tic and meet my mate; he's a right laugh, he loves anything to do with America as well."
Before he knew what was happening, Jack was being dragged by one arm over to the other side of the bar, leaving Ianto sitting there on his own to slowly self-combust.
Ianto had actually had enough. He didn't care that this had turned out to be a harmless affair after all. He didn't care that the only reason the guy was showing so much interest earlier in the restaurant was because he'd heard Jack's accent. He didn't care that the fucker's uncle had seventeen horses and a nearly a hundred fucking cows … Their combined existence was just about summing up his entire experience of the evening thus far ….. SHIT! And a hell of a lot of it at that!
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Turning on his stool he caught the eye of the bartender who had appeared on the scene to allow the young girl to take a break.
The local man smiled and made his way along the bar to him. "What would you like, Senor? I am thinking you might be needing something just a leeettle more stronger than beer this time."
Ianto turned back to see Jack laughing and smiling as the two guys all but mauled him.
Facing the barman he came to a decision. "I'll have a large scotch, please."
Nodding, the barman tapped Ianto on one forearm to gain his full attention. "You know what I think, Senor? I think you should just eegnore him."
Straightening his posture slightly, Ianto felt his hackles start to rise. "Yeah? Well you know what I think? I think you should mind your own fucking business …. Senor."
Bowing as he stepped backwards, the barman made his way over to the bottles at the back of the bar.
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"Hey, listen guys, I'm sorry, but I really should be getting back to my friend over there … we're supposed to be out on the pull, and when it comes to women, well, he needs me there for a bit of moral support; if ya know what I mean."
As the two men laughed with him, Jack bade them a final … "Nice talkin' to you, guys" … then made his way over to the loos before going back to face the music.
From his stool on the other side of the bar, Ianto was watching on with interest. Now on his second large scotch he was slowly but surely becoming fed up to the point of doing something stupid. And truth be told, if it hadn't have been Jack that he was there with he would probably have done something certifiable by now.
He paused mid-sip and with his mood beginning to lighten, he watched as Jack began to make his way over to the gents. But this renewed hope, of his, that this whole preposterous episode might soon be coming to an end, was dashed as Mark, the wanker, looked deliberately over in his direction to give him a smile … then began to follow along behind Jack.
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Sighing with frustration, and his patience waning, Jack emerged from the toilets five minutes later to find Ianto missing.
His heart leapt into his mouth and a sudden wave of panic saw him rushing over to where they'd been sitting. The only person around, now, in that area was a barman … who seemed to be studying him closely as he approached at speed.
"My friend ….." Hands gripping onto the bar, and hearing the rising level of anxiety in his voice, Jack knew that he was in some serious, serious shit, right now.
The barman took a step towards him. "The Irish one?"
"Welsh, yeah. Did you see which way he went?"
"He is not a happy man, Senor. He ees saying that you, my friend, can get, how you say eet? Fucked? And that he ees getting his suitcase and getting on the plane back to his home."
Jack felt suddenly convinced that he was gonna throw up. "Shit!"
Nodding, the barman considered his next choice of words very carefully.
"I would say so, Senor …. si."
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IJ JH IJ JH IJ JH IJ JH IJ JH IJ JH IJ HJ IJ JH IJ
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tbc.