I'm so sorry I forgot to post on FF so it's a day late... I'll try to think about posting on FF the next days! :)

We have no idea of when Ianto started Torchwood, but for this story he has two birthdays when still working for Torchwood One ;) (so the first one (this one) is probably not long after he started)


Starting Torchwood had been tough. His colleagues had said everyone was having a hard time the first few weeks and they hadn't been lying. He had always thought aliens could be real, but imagination and reality were different things. Saying it could exist and seeing it actually existed were two different things, and he had panicked once. Apparently, he was taking it quite okay, or at least he stayed – unlike someone who started around the same time as he but couldn't handle the secret after only a couple of days. And he stayed a long time, he made friends, even a girlfriend – even though they broke up after a while – and most importantly, he fell in love. At first, he had thought it was just another crush, he had had a few, it even seemed to happen a lot, but then Lisa – her name was Lisa – had become a very good friend, and she was constantly flirting, and he was flirting back, except that after a while he wasn't kidding at all any more and he was starting to have feelings. He just couldn't gather the courage to ask her out. But he received an e-mail from Yvonne Hartman herself, saying "Take a day off soon and take her out. Consider this a birthday's present and a reward for your hard work," in addition to the basic "Torchwood wishes you a happy birthday" blah blah they always sent to someone on their birthday, so he asked her out.

Well, he made up his mind, because he first had to go through the whole floor wishing him his birthday, offering him new coffee – he loved making coffee and was pretty good at it – stupid little things – post-it notes, a stapler... – that still pleased Ianto or even just smiles or handshakes. They still get back to their job at hand after a few minutes, but the young man appreciated what they had done. Maybe it was finally how being home felt. Being happy. With a job, colleagues, some friends, feelings...

In the end, he did take Lisa out, and it turned out that she was attracted by him as well. Ianto couldn't have been happier than back then.