Author's Note: It's not quite shiny, but it is kinda plotty. A very late Happy Birthday to Lucy, who was supposed to get mentioned last chapter but I forgot to do an AN. Sorry babe.

Tybalt wound himself around their legs as soon as they got through the door, purring like an engine and seemingly determined to trip them up. Ianto chuckled and scooped him up out of the way, then dumped him with the bag of presents on the sofa whilst Jack got his boots off.

"Hello monster," he fussed, scratching behind Tybalt's ears and under his chin. "You're looking gorgeous. Has Jack been brushing you? I bet he has."

Jack laughed at him and set the other bag of presents down next to the armchair. "Do you talk to babies like that?"

"I don't talk to babies," he answered absently, all of his attention fixed on the very happy cat, and aware that most of Jack's attention was probably on the tight fit of his jeans. "I just look scared until I can give them back to mum. Cats are much, much simpler, aren't you, gorgeous?"

"You'll get your feet clawed in the middle of the night," Jack warned, resting one hand on Ianto's back and reaching across to rub Tybalt's tummy. "He's watching us... Maybe he's reporting back to Santa."

"Or to Death." Ianto deepened his voice and intoned, "What's that, Tybalt? Jack Harkness has been a very naughty boy? I don't think naughtiness is relevant, somehow."

Jack chuckled and squeezed Ianto's hips. "I need a drink. Do you want one?"

He smiled over his shoulder. "Hot chocolate please?"

"Coming right up." Jack moved away and Ianto straightened up, scooping Tybalt up once again so that he could sit down on the sofa with him in his lap. "I don't think we have any whipped cream in, though..."

"I can probably cope without." He sighed and shook his head at Tybalt. "You're supposed to be keeping him organised whilst I'm away, Tyb. What's going on?"

Tybalt, of course, didn't respond, so Ianto kept stroking him with one hand and fumbled for the remote with the other, then browse through the on screen TV guide for something to watch. Dave had become his constant companion, especially since he'd brought Tybalt to Cardiff, and it saved him again with its endless supply of satire. He was engrossed in it by the time Jack returned with two tall mugs of hot chocolate, but he detached his hand from Tybalt's grasp so that he could accept it with both hands and inhaled deeply. "Smells good. What are you using?"

Jack shifted the presents off the sofa and settled down next to him, wrapping his free arm around Ianto's shoulders. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Jack," he tutted. "I'd very definitely be in the Magic Circle of hot drinks makers if there were one. You can tell me."

"Well... alright." He leaned in and his lips, warm from the hot chocolate, brushed Ianto's ear. "Whittards caramel."

Ianto took his first sip and sighed, closing his eyes with pleasure and curling his toes. "Oh. That's really nice."

Jack pressed one finger gently against Ianto's temple and turned his head to the side so that Jack could kiss him, and his tongue brushed against Ianto's gently, his own taste cutting through the chocolate. He pulled back and brushed the tip of his nose against Ianto's. "I thought you'd like it."

Tybalt's nose crept closer to Jack's mug, which was resting in his lap, and he was saved from a scalded nose only by Ianto registering the shift of weight in his lap. Jack lifted his mug out of reach with a warning grumble and Ianto laughed, hiding his face in the mug. He got a paw on his chest for his laughter, as Tybalt tried to climb him to get at the hot chocolate, and he had to drop him onto the floor in the end. "Cat, you ruined the mood," he scolded.

Jack cupped the back of his neck in a mug-warmed hand and squeezed, rubbing the tips of his fingers through Ianto's hairline. "I'm going to have to ruin the mood further; I'm on alert tonight, so I might not be able to stay."

He sighed and tipped his head back into Jack's hand more. "I'll come with you. Might as well get back into the swing of it early."

Jack shook his head, though. "Not until you've had a thorough physical from Owen. I'm not taking you out in the field until I know you're fully up to speed."

"What?" He sat up straight and turned towards Jack. "Of course I'm 'up to speed'. I've not..."

"Hey," Jack rested a hand on his knee to stop him. "Let me be careful and responsible for once?" He took a breath and ploughed on before Ianto could object. "You're the best field agent I have when you're on your game, especially if we're partnered together. But you've been on mainly desk duty for six months and living on your own catering and fast food which, admit it, isn't the best way to stay in top condition."

He chuckled and slid his hand over Jack's. "I'm better than I used to be."

"You're living on pasta and bacon," Jack scoffed. "I looked in your cupboards last night. And I threw your potatoes out because they'd gone off."

Ianto ducked his head to hide a smile. "Sorry mum."

Jack kissed the top of his head. "That's alright dear. Shall I do dinner?"

"No." Ianto lifted his head and kissed Jack on the lips. "I'll do it. How about that French place?"

Ianto stroked Tybalt and watched patterns of light drift across the ceiling. It was late, it was cold, and he was on his own since Jack had rushed out to corral a herd of Doraxians, which were something like a cross between a very cross rhinoceros and a very cross sheep. He'd left Ianto nearly three hours before, just as they were thinking of going to bed, and Ianto had eventually bored of listening to the team's hopeless herding efforts and turned in, only to find that sleep was evading him.

The front door banged and he sat up, reaching for the light and shivering when the quilt fell away from his shoulders. Jack managed to stay quiet through the rest of the flat, and his shoulders sagged when he stood in the bedroom doorway, his shirt hanging from one hand and a glass of whiskey in his other hand. "Hey," he tossed the shirt across the room and missed the washing basket. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Couldn't sleep." He shrugged and retrieved the cat, who was wandering down the bed. "I was cold."

"Not as cold as we were." Jack pulled off his T shirt and dropped it and the shirt into the washing basket, then started on his trousers. "It started sleeting before I got out there and was aiming towards snow by the time we got finished. The wind was bitter... And I fell over twice."

"In mud?" He pulled the duvet back and Jack dropped his boxers into the basket as well, then flipped the lid closed and hurried into bed. "You're freezing."

"I am." He shivered again and groaned when Ianto shifted the cat and rolled towards him, wrapping his arms around him to warm him up. "Ianto, I'm like an ice box."

"I can tell. Shut up and enjoy it." He curled closer and tangled their legs together, noting absently that Jack's feet actually felt cold next to his own, which was unheard of except after a death. The revelation shook him. "You didn't die, did you?"

"No, just bruised my pride. And my ass."

"And not in a fun way," he tucked Jack's head under his chin and rubbed his back. "We could warm up in the traditional way..."

Jack pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat, and Ianto could feel his smile. "You do have the best ideas."