Ianto Jones, mind absorbed in his work, barely checked an automatic response to attack at the light nudge to his shoulder. His gut reaction was to slice with his knife first, ask questions after. Yet, over time, he'd learned to temper such a violent response.

Don't kill the humans.

He had to remind himself that Toshiko was his friend, and she was only human. And, as strange as it was to him, humans in this realm liked to touch each other constantly. It had taken almost the entire first year to adjust to that particular peculiarity of this world, and five years later, he still had to remind himself that Mages didn't last long when they killed the humans.

"Don't look now. Hot guy. Nine o'clock."

Regardless the dimension in which a person had been born, the reality of the phrase 'don't look now' was that it only ensured that he would indeed look. And, he'd do it immediately.

His gaze shifted to his left, catching sight of a tall, dark figure, partially hidden by a low shelf of books. His face was in profile and shadowed slightly. From what he could see, he was tall and had a strong jaw and a straight nose. Nothing about him was immediately concerning, but he had to admit, he was intrigued.

"I told you not to look." Toshiko's hushed embarrassment made the corners of Ianto's lips tip up ever so slightly. The people of this realm were entertaining in the way their emotions played out in every reaction, but she wasn't wrong about the attractiveness of the guy.

He turned toward them, his eyes lifting once before dropping to peruse the contents of the flat top surface of the half-shelf that blocked him from the waist down. He was watching them, though he didn't want them to know he was. Ianto's radar for danger was at attention.

"He looks way too hot to be in an antique shop. What do you suppose he's doing here?"

Ianto paused briefly before saying, "I don't recall a hotness inspection as we entered. Did I miss that?"

Toshiko gave a loud tinkling giggle as Ianto had known she would. Sure enough, the mystery man's gaze lifted again as he shifted for a clearer view. He was watching them...definitely. It might be a good idea to find out exactly who he was and what he wanted. With this mission in mind, Ianto held the man's gaze with his own. His eyes were a brilliant, deep blue, and Ianto couldn't seem to look away. A sizzling energy, like lightning, fired between them, and a warmth flowed through his body. The intense attraction was instant, and he got a sense of déjà vu.

He seemed familiar somehow, though he was sure he'd remember that particular shade of blue eyes. They were like glimmering, deep pools of Caribbean waters, and he felt mesmerized as he stared at him.

"You know what I mean. The usual clientele that wander into a shop like this are either older collectors or hipster couples trying to impress other hipster couples." She openly stared now as she explained, "He's different. And by different, I mean full-on panty-melting."

Ianto indulged in a very human reaction as he turned his focus back toward his task of looking through a shelf of aging, discoloured books.

He rolled his eyes.

His gaze centered on the necessary work of carefully searching for the rare book he'd been looking for on his many visits to antique shops and the craziest places he'd ever seen—flea markets. He sighed as he finished the final row of the shelf without spotting the one he'd hoped to come across. Nevertheless, he carefully pulled another book he needed to remove before someone got hurt.

he'd sensed it was a cursed book, and it didn't need to be easily accessible to anyone, especially not some unsuspecting human. he slipped it into his canvas backpack with the lead lined pocket and sealed the compartment with a low, whispered spell before removing his magically reinforced gloves and placing them into his second, ever-present bag slung over his body.

As smoothly as he could, Ianto pulled his curved fighting knife, preparing to get some answers to the mystery of who the man was and why he was there. With his thick, dark floppy hair and physical symmetry, it was too bad he'd possibly have to mar his handsomeness to get the answers he had to have.

Yet, as he turned to confront the mystery man, he was surprised to see that he was standing right behind him. She was surprised but disciplined enough not to let it show as he faced this curious man. Even more interesting and slightly irritating, was that, up close, he was even more handsome than he'd realized.

"Rare books can be addictive." The deep, rich timbre of his voice sent warm tendrils down his spine.

The temptation to lean in and listen closer was difficult to resist. Instead, he surreptitiously sheathed his knife, and focused on his large, muscular figure. And, he had some height. Ianto was tall. At least six foot at present. Yet, he was staring up into a face that had at least five inches on him.

"Are you a collector? You don't look like the usual collector." Toshiko giggled again.

Ianto watched his reaction to the question and the flirty comment with interest. He didn't shift his gaze from Ianto's as he said, "I do like beautiful things."

With a clearing of his throat, Ianto dropped his focus to his chest. He could feel his cheeks heating, and though he thought he knew why, he didn't quite understand how to behave.

His first instinct was to find a reason to be anywhere else but here. he wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. Yet, part of him wanted to explore the possibilities, and another part of him knew that there was danger in making connections.

He'd taken a chance on his friendship with Toshiko, and though he didn't have any regrets about that, he also knew that if anyone ever found Ianto here, they would use Toshiko to get to him.

Relationships were dangerous, and Ianto had learned to avoid them whenever possible. And, right now, he was struggling to push down the part of him that he usually suppressed. Flirtation was not natural for him. He had done what he always did, experience the mysteries of life through the authors who wrote about them, including human behaviors like flirting. With books, he could learn what he needed to know without having to experience it. As a result, romance books had become his new, favourite thing about living in this dimension.

He loved the experience that each brought, and right now, he decided he could use what he'd learnt through reading to imitate human behaviour in this novel situation. An image of two characters from a recent romance book standing close to each other came to mind.

He followed the image moving through his mind. His next step was to slowly lift his gaze up to meet his once again, this time with a lop-sided smile, whatever that was. Yet, just as he was beginning to lift his chin upward, he caught the nervous pull at the man's collar. His fingers shifted the fabric as if he were trying to hide something. All pretense forgotten, Ianto reached for his shirt collar with every intention of seeing what he was trying to hide.

He had an idea already, but he wanted to see for himself.

Unfortunately, he never got a finger on fabric. A hand grasped his wrist firmly, stopping him from going any farther, but not before he got a glimpse of what he'd expected to find. The man had the mark of a hunter. The circular brand with the raised sword in a T was unmistakable. Ianto didn't pause to ask who he was. He already knew, and it was exactly what he'd feared. With a twist, he pulled free and rolled over the low bookshelf, pulling his dagger once more. He heard Toshiko scream, drawing Ianto's attention to her retreating figure. At least Toshiko was out of the way and safe.

Ianto spun to search for the hunter but only heard the bell over the door as the front door opened and closed. Ianto watched as the man turned right and disappeared. He was quick to be so large.

"Where'd he go?" Toshiko's question came from behind Ianto. Ianto was already at the door as Toshiko's voice carried through the store.

Ianto stepped outside, but as he looked up and down the street in both directions, there wasn't a single sign of the hunter. He'd vanished, and Ianto cursed at the unfortunate turn of events.

he knew he wasn't gone for good. he didn't want to think about who the man had been because, deep down, he knew what it meant, but he didn't want to think about that right now. His past had caught up to him and he wasn't ready for that just yet.

"Well, that was strange. Who do you suppose he was?"

Though Ianto knew the mystery man was a hunter, he didn't share his suspicion with Toshiko. His friend wouldn't understand. Ianto had never shared the truth of his origin with Toshiko, and she had no plans to. It would only confuse the human.

"I don't know, but I think it's time to go now."

Ianto knew he hadn't seen the last of the hunter who had stood here a few minutes earlier. He would find him again, and next time, he wouldn't see him coming until it was too late. "Toshiko, it's time for me to move on."

Toshiko rushed around and grabbed Ianto's free hand. Ianto quickly sheathed his knife and focused on his human best friend.

"Oh, Ianto! You can't run and hide from every problem." She squeezed Ianto's hand tightly in hers. "And, we've talked about the knife. I don't care what they do in that little country you're from, we don't regularly pull knives on people here."

Toshiko looked around nervously, but there wasn't anyone in the store other than the two of them. For the first time, Ianto wondered where the store clerk had gone. Something strange was going on here, but they couldn't wait around to find out.

Feeling the weight of the book in his bag and the bounty on his head, Ianto squeezed Toshiko's hand in return and pulled her out the front door.