Saturday morning.
Jack slowly opened his eyes to the sun filling his and Ianto's bedroom. They'd spent all of yesterday unpacking and telling Cassandra exactly what they did and catching up on anything they'd missed when they were away.
Jack glanced at the clock. 7:58am. Smiling, Jack rolled over and draped an arm across the bed.
"Ianto?" Jack moved his arm around the empty bed as if his boyfriend would suddenly appear if he touched the sheets.
"I'm in the bathroom, Jack!" Ianto called back.
Sitting up, Jack yawned. "What are you doing up? I thought we were going to have a lie in today. You know, attempt to extend the holiday?"
"Well I decided that I should start my duties today. I've already spent ages recovering." Ianto appeared at the doorway with a toothbrush in his mouth and towel around his waist.
Jack grinned at the sight before him.
"Jaaack!" Ianto groaned.
"What?" Jack asked innocently.
"You know what." Ianto narrowed his eyed.
"Actually I don't." Jack replied. "I was simply admiring the view of my gorgeous boyfriend."
Ianto blushed slightly at the word 'boyfriend' and went back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth. The subject of exactly what their relationship was wasn't a topic that Ianto wished to talk about. He was still getting used to showing any sort of affection in public. The holiday had helped him loads. He felt happy to hold Jack's hand in public but taking the compliments was hard. No matter how much Jack told him that he wasn't just the 'servant boy', he found it hard to believe. Jack was from a respectable, if a little shallow and unloving, well-to-do family. Whereas, he didn't even know any of his family. Over time, Ianto hoped that the insecurities would go away.
Ianto looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. It may not even take that long; he thought to himself, Jack has been disowned by his parents so he's not as rich as he was. They were almost equal in terms of money. He didn't want Jack to be poor, he just felt stupid when he was unable to repay Jack for all the things he received off him.
He still has Cassandra, Ianto thought, it's not like he has nothing.
"I'm just going to have a quick wash and then I'll come with you to see Cassandra." Jack said as he entered the bathroom.
"Thanks Jack but I'd rather do this by myself. Why don't you go and find something to occupy yourself with." Ianto suggested.
"Like what?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know." Ianto quickly gave it some thought. "Why don't you sit by the pond or something?"
"I don't want to sit by the pond without you." Jack whined.
"Jack, you're not making this easy, are you?" Ianto put his hand on his hip. His eyes widened as he felt the towel start to slip. Removing his hand from his hip, he grabbed desperately for the towel and only just caught it before it fell off completely. "Don't even say anything."
"I wasn't going to." Jack smirked.
"Of course you weren't." Ianto ridiculed him.
They finished getting ready in silence when Ianto suddenly thought of something for Jack to do.
"Why don't you write a diary?" Ianto suggested.
"A diary?" Jack questioned.
"Yeah, I've kept a diary ever since I was really little." Ianto nodded. "You should keep one too."
"Hmm...Or I could write a book!" Jack eyes widened with excitement at his amazing idea.
"Really? What would you write a book about?" Ianto asked.
"Now that would be telling." Jack grinned mischievously, sauntered out of the bathroom and left Ianto to ponder about his book.
********
"Alright then, Ianto. I've been thinking about your duties while you were away and I thought we would start you off finishing yours and Jack's washing from your holiday. After you've done that, I would like you to tidy up your bedroom and bathroom." Cassandra had a sheet of paper in her hands with a list of all the servant's duties on for the rest of the week. It was about to be pinned to the notice board in the servant's supply room.
"Is that everything?" Ianto asked. It was nothing like what he had to do at Linda Harkness' house.
Cassandra nodded. "Ianto honey, I'm only giving you servant duties because you want them. At first, I intended for you to become a servant here but be able to live with Jack at the same time but I've started thinking of you as my son and I don't mind if you don't work for me whilst living here."
"Really?" Ianto raised his eyebrows. He hadn't realised that Cassandra didn't expect him to work. "I just couldn't take your hospitality for granted like that."
"If you insist on working, I'm not going to stop you but I'm not having you working like before. What duties do you expect?" Cassandra asked.
Ianto thought for a moment. "I would expect to help cook meals, clean the house and serve drinks at parties."
"My house doesn't work the same as Linda's. The meals here are cooked by the servants but the servants also eat with us. Yes, the house is cleaned by servants but you're being assigned your own area within the house to clean. The rest is not your responsibility. As for serving drinks at parties, you will be one of the hosts at the parties, not serving at it. You are part of the family." Cassandra explained.
"Oh," Ianto mumbled and mulled over what she'd said. "So I just need to keep mine and Jack's room tidy and do our washing?"
Cassandra nodded.
"Are you sure you don't want me doing anything else?" Ianto asked.
"I'm positive, Ianto." Cassandra smiled. "Now the quicker you get your jobs done, the quicker you can go and spend time with Jack. Actually, what is Jack doing?"
"He's going to write a book." Ianto replied, simply.
Cassandra laughed at the thought of Jack sitting still and writing a book all day.
"What is he going to write about?" Cassandra chuckled.
"I asked that but he said that he's not going to tell me." Ianto mock pouted.
"Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see then, won't we?" Cassandra quickly led Ianto to the laundry room. "I'm assuming you know how to do laundry, yes?"
Ianto nodded.
"That's good. You'll find everything you need in here. There's a washing line in the yard. That's just through that door there." Cassandra pointed at the door to their right. "When you're done, make sure your bedroom is tidy and then you're finished."
Ianto nodded again and Cassandra left him to it.
********
Ianto was onto his last load of washing when he heard the door open.
"Hi." Someone greeted him from the doorway.
Ianto grinned at the sound of the voice. Spinning around, Ianto confirmed his suspicions.
"Hi, Jack." Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack's neck as Jack snaked his around Ianto's waist.
"Having fun?" Jack asked.
"Of course, I'm washing our clothes. What could be more fun?" Ianto replied, sarcastically.
"Well, I can think of a few things..." Jack started.
"Jaaack!" Ianto interrupted him.
"What? I was going to say sitting by the pond, feeding the ducks or eating ice cream on the beach." Jack laughed innocently.
"I agree about the pond and the ducks and the beach but not the ice cream. I hate ice cream. It's too cold and gives me headaches." Ianto scrunched his face up slightly.
Jack forgot what he was talking about as he gazed into Ianto's eyes. The simple, pure blueness was enough to make him loose his concentration instantly.
"What?" Ianto asked when Jack didn't reply.
"So beautiful..." Jack whispered as his lips met Ianto's. Pulling away slightly, Jack breathed lightly and pressed his lips back to Ianto's softly. Ianto smiled into the kiss and put his hands behind Jack's head to hold him in place. It was unexpected kisses like this that made Ianto's heart pound inside his chest.
"Oh!" The boys quickly pulled away and stood awkwardly as Carys looked at them from the doorway; she was clearly shocked. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt..."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I was just about to leave." Jack reassured her and turned back to Ianto. Lowering his voice so only his boyfriend could hear, Jack whispered "I love you."
Carys watched as Ianto's face lit up. She narrowed her eyes as Jack quickly brushed past her and out of the room. What did he say to him?
As Ianto turned back to her, she swiftly smiled.
"He didn't need to leave on my behalf." She told him.
"I have work to do; he was just trying to distract me because he's bored." Ianto explained and turned back to the rest of his washing.
"So, what other duties have you got?" Carys asked.
"I just need to do mine and Jack's washing and make sure our bedroom and bathroom is clean." Ianto answered.
"Is that all?" Carys' mouth fell open.
"I know! That's what I said." Ianto smiled at her, warmly. "Well, I'm finished. I'll leave you to do your washing. Talk to you later."
"Bye." Carys watched sweetly as Ianto left the laundry room. As soon as she was sure he was gone, her face dropped into a scowl and she sneered. "Who does he think he is?"
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