"You'd better not try to ruin things."
"I'll do what's best."
"Do anything to stop this, and you'll pay."
Jack looked around as he turned away from the large window. Well, on the bright side, at least Ianto wasn't losing it, nor was he about to gain another invisible friend.
"We're to be in the dining room in half an hour." Ianto said as he walked in.
"Good." Jack muttered. "Good."
"Are you feeling all right, Jack?" Ianto asked as he watched Jack look around the room.
"You said you heard voices earlier, right?" Jack asked as he stopped his examination of the room long enough to focus on Ianto.
"Yes." he nodded. "Do you hear something now, too?"
"Yeah, I did." Jack said. "But, you know, it's an old house." he added, trying to shrug it off. "Lots of drafts, and creaks, makes things seem spooky."
"Tosh heard something as well." Ianto informed him. "The wedding march."
"She's very smitten with that Alun." Jack shrugged.
"Oh, I'm sure that's what it is." Ianto replied, rolling his eyes.
There was a knock at the door and Ianto opened it to find Stanley standing there, smiling.
"We had a chat and decided it would be best if we showed you to the dining room." he said.
"Too many people getting lost?" Ianto asked.
"Exactly." Stanley nodded. "You're sharing a room with another man?" he asked as Jack stepped forward.
"Yes." Ianto nodded.
"I see." he said. "Nothing wrong with that, of course." he nodded. "Good way to build camaraderie. Some good male bonding."
"I was just about to convince Ianto to bond a little more when you knocked." Jack said with a smile.
"He's keen on male bonding." Ianto said, fighting back the urge to laugh.
"Well, there's five men here right now, maybe after dinner we can all have some brandy and cigars." Stanley suggested.
"A group bonding." Jack said, "Haven't done that in a long time."
"Well, I look forward to it." Stanley said. "Well, let's get a move on." he said. "Sooner we get to some good old fashioned male bonding, no women to bother us, the better."
"Here, here!" Jack cheered as they followed Stanley down to the dining room.
"Just ran into Tosh." Owen called as he let himself into the room he was to share with Faith. "We're to meet in the dining room in half an hour."
"Oh, they're going to feed us." Faith said with excitement. "I'm starving."
"Told you to have something before we left Cardiff." he replied.
"I wasn't hungry then." she said. "Owen, were you in here ealier?"
"Earlier when?" he asked as he sat in a large wingchair in the corner of the room. "I got lost coming up. You took off so bloody fast."
"Sorry." she said as she propped against the large carved headboard. "Just wanted to get up to the room."
"Jack and Ianto saying they would share a room had nothing to do with it I'm sure." Owen said as he leaned back and stretched out his legs.
"Can we just not talk about that?" Faith asked. "Have you heard anything?"
"About what?" he asked.
"Not about anything." she said with a sigh. "Have you heard anyone whispering?"
"No, have you?" he asked slowly as though he were talking to an insane person.
"I wouldn't be asking otherwise, now would I?" she said impatiently. "Those pills you gave me earlier, they don't make someone hallucinate, do they?"
"Unless the asprin makers have been slipping happy juice into those little tablets, no." he said with a laugh. "It could just be that you're mad."
"Professional opinion?" Faith asked.
"Well, obviously I'm not a shrink, but knowing you as I do..." he said.
"You don't know me very well." she pointed out.
"And yet, when Ianto told you that he and Jack..."he began.
"I was drunk, it doesn't count, and we agreed never to speak of that again." Faith said as she got off the bed. "I need a hot washcloth." she added as she headed for the bathroom.
"You want me again and you know it!" he called after her laughing as he heard the taps turn on.
"Where is she?"
"She'll show, don't worry my dear."
"She has to. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't."
"Of course she will. She's dying to marry you."
"She'll die if she doesn't. Both of us will."
Owen sat up in his seat. Damn that Faith. She just had to put disembodied voices into his mind, didn't she?
"Did you say something, Faith?" Owen called.
"No, did you?" she asked, using the same mocking tone he'd used on her.
"I've never really liked you." he responded.
"Oh, you want me again and you know it." she said in a teasing voice.
"Never liked you." he repeated as a knock sounded at the door.
Owen walked over and opened the door and found Georgette Milner on the other side.
"Mrs. Milner." he said.
"Hello, Dr. Harper, isn't it?" she said.
"Yes." he said with a smile.
"I've come to lead you and Miss Madden down to the dining room." she explained. "I heard some of you lost your way earlier, we thought it might be best if we each escorted a pair down."
"That is very sweet, Mrs. Milner." Faith said as she came to the door. "Owen here was helplessly lost. He only just found the room."
"Oh dear, I do apologize." Georgette said, wringing her hands. "Don't want to misplace the guests, now do we?"
"We'd prefer if you didn't." Owen said.
"Well, I'll draw you out a map before you come back up for the night." Georgette promised. "Come along."
Owen and Faith followed along behind the old woman, who kept turning back and smiling at them.
"So, how long have you been together?" she asked sweetly.
"Oh, we're not together." Faith quickly corrected her.
"No, it's strictly sex between us." Owen added.
Georgette stopped and turned to stare at Owen, Faith stared open mouthed at him. How could he say something like that in front of such a sweet old lady?
"You know, that's part of the reason Stanley and I have lasted this long." she said, surprising them both. "He's a voracious lover."
"Really?" Faith asked, not being able to laugh a little.
"Oh goodness yes." she said, nodding emphatically. "Hung like a horse." she whispered.
"Oh god." Owen muttered, hoping the hall would swallow him.
"Oh dear." Faith said, supressing a smile.
"Is he any good?" she asked Faith, nodding towards Owen. "If not, Stanley could give him a couple of pointers."
"I'm fine, thank you." Owen said, glaring at Faith who was about to answer.
"Well, if you want to, just ask him." Georgette said. "He's not shy." she added with a wink. "Come along." she said as she began leading them down the hall again, Faith trying to stay on her feet as she was wracked with laughter.
"No luck?" Gwen asked.
"Sort of." Tosh answered. "There will be food waiting for us down in the dining room in half an hour's time."
"Wonderful." Gwen said as she looked at her watch.
"Trying your phone again?" Tosh asked as she pointed to Gwen's phone which she had in her hand.
"I almost got a bar." she laughed. "I wanted to at least text Rhys."
"Hopefully they'll both just accept our reason." Tosh sighed. "Definitely doesn't look good, making plans then just not bothering to show up."
"Luckily Rhys has pleanty of experience with that." Gwen quipped.
"At least he knows what you do, so he knows why." Tosh said. "Poor Alun is clueless as to all this."
"He's stuck around, what, three months now." Gwen pointed out. "Must not mind too much then."
"Yes, that is a good point." Tosh smiled.
A knock at the door broke up their friendly chat. Gwen got up to answer it and found a man standing there. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, blonde hair, blue eyes. His large frame took up the whole of the door as he stood staring at Gwen.
"Hello." she said.
"I'm to show you to the dining room." he said gruffly.
"Okay." she said. "Tosh, we're heading down to the dining room now."
"Good, we can't get lost that way." Tosh said with a laugh as she stopped next to Gwen.
"Miss Sato?" the man said.
"Yes." she answered. "This is Gwen Cooper." she offered.
"I hope you're liking your room, Miss Sato." he said, completely ignoring the introduction.
"You can just call me Tosh." she said with an uneasy smile. "And yes, the room is lovely. Really the whole house is."
"I'm glad you like them, Tosh." he said, a smile slowly creeping over his face. "I'm Christopher."
"You're Mr. and Mrs. Milner's son?" Gwen asked, not masking her surprise at all.
"Yes." he said, the gruffness returning to his voice. "Why do you seem so surprised?"
"I just thought their son, you, would be a bit, well, older." she said, stumbling a bit as he loomed over them.
"Well, I'm not." he said coolly. "Follow me." he added as he turned and walked off.
"He lacks his mother's friendliness." Gwen whispered to Tosh as they followed.
"His father was fine at first, but then he made me a bit uneasy as well." Tosh replied in hushed tones.
Christopher stayed well ahead of the pair, but kept looking back over his shoulder, smiling eerily at Tosh as they went along.
"I think he likes you." Gwen teased.
"Please don't say that." Tosh groaned as they followed their host down the stairs.
"Just in here." Christopher said as he opened the door. "I hope you enjoy the meal, Tosh." he said as she walked by, leaning down and getting very close to her as he did so.
"I'm sure I will." she said, resisting the urge to move quickly away from him. He seemed a bit odd, she didn't want to offend, just in case it went beyond odd.
"Ah, your little group, all together." Georgette said happily as she saw her son come in with Gwen and Tosh.
"The food smells wonderful." Tosh said.
"Oh, thank you." Georgette said. "I do what I can."
"Don't be modest, Georgie." Stanley put in. "She's an outstanding cook."
"Now Stanley." she said, blushing at her husband's praise. "Just put the plates on the side table."
Stanley did as his wife bid and placed the plates on a sideboard on the far side of the room. Large pots stood on the table and baskets held loaves of bread.
"There's wine here if you want some." Georgette said. "And there's also water. You all enjoy yourselves, while you all eat we'll draw up some maps for you to find your way back upstairs."
"Thank you." Jack said.
"You're not eating?" Tosh asked.
"We had dinner early tonight." Stanley said. "Well, dig in." he said as he offered his wife his arm and left, their son trailing after them, looking back over his shoulder at Tosh as he did so. The door to the room closed and Faith made a mad dash for the sideboard.
"It smells so good." she said as she lifted the lid off a dish that held the stew.
"Bon appetit." Jack said as he and the others sat down to eat.
"Is it just me, or there a kind of odd taste?" Tosh asked as she ate a spoonful.
"I think it's some of the spices." Gwen said as she broke a piece of bread.
"You're probably right." Tosh said with a smile as she continued to eat her fill.
"So tired." Faith mumbled as she collapsed onto the bed.
"Been a long day." Owen yawned as he kicked off his shoes and fell onto the other side.
"Very." she mumbled as she drifted off, Owen quickly following.
"Guess there won't be any bonding." Jack said with a goofy grin as he plopped down on the edge of the bed.
"Sorry to disappoint." Ianto said as he crawled into the bed, pulling the covers over his head to block the light from the bedside lamp.
"You know, we could still..." Jack said as he layed back, turning to Ianto. "Ianto?"
The only response he got was loud snoring.
"Guess not." he yawned. "Amazing how a big meal can make you so sleepy." he muttered as he, too, drifted off.
"Oh, I'm stuffed." Gwen groaned as she stumbled through the door to the room.
"I'm dead on my feet." Tosh said as she awkwardly made her way to the bed and just barely caught the corner as she sat down.
"Me too." Gwen said as she slid down into the large chair.
"I still think that food tasted a bit off." Tosh mumbled as she drowsily crawled to the head of the bed.
"Maybe they drugged us." Gwen joked as her eyes closed.
"Not funny." Tosh mumbled as she passed out.