Author's Notes: This one is really short compared to the last one; sorry about that. It just felt right to end it when I did, though, and it's late at night – again – so I don't have enough power left in me to think of something more complex. I hope you enjoy it!

Absistence – constant mindfulness of others and one's surroundings; practicing self-control.

When Jack woke up, he immediately knew that he wasn't in his room on the starship. He tried not to move so he could assess his surroundings without letting anyone know that he was awake, which wasn't really all that hard for someone trained for situations such as this one. A fair amount of people out there wanted to kill him, but why would any of them put him in a bed afterwards? It didn't make sense.

Another thing that didn't make sense was that his initial reaction to everything around him was Ianto. The air smelled like him; like apples and thyme and lavender – the smell of his shampoo and hair gel – and even that damned fabric softener he used for his sheets because it smells nicer this way, Jack and that had always made Jack feel the need to sneeze.

There was also someone's breath tickling his neck and someone's cool hands wrapped around his waist, which was even stranger. There hadn't been anyone recently, so who...

And then he remembered.

Jack breathed in sharply and heard a low chuckle just beside his left ear. "Hello there."

The Captain felt a huge smile make its way onto his face as he turned to face Ianto and then grunted, surprised, when he flipped them over until he could stare down at Jack, those bright blue eyes warm and gentle and so overwhelmingly deep that he could get lost in them forever.

He still couldn't quite believe that this was actually, properly happening. That he had the privilege to see a miracle happen and the right to see his lover, smiling and lively and much more open than he had ever been. He'd actually got a second chance.

"Hello," Jack managed at last and Ianto gave him a crooked grin before leaning down for a kiss that was much more thorough than the one they'd shared last night.

Ianto was just the same under his hands, even if he was colder to the touch now, and Jack tried to get more comfortable, one of his feet sliding up Ianto's calf. It had always been his way of telling his lover what he wanted and Ianto usually complied happily but this time, he froze completely.

"What is it?" Jack asked, frowning as he pulled back from the kiss. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just–" Ianto closed his eyes and sighed. "It might not be a good idea to– try that, at least for a while."

"Why wouldn't we?" Jack didn't want to be impatient; he wanted to give Ianto time to recover. But when they'd got so close... "You were really up for it a minute ago." He pointedly looked down and Ianto's pale face flushed as he hid it in the crook of Jack's neck with that adorable little smile he usually adopted when he was ashamed beyond belief. "Actually, I think you still are."

There was a curt, nervous laugh from his lover when he looked at Jack again. "It might backfire spectacularly, though. Sex with Time Lords isn't always pleasant. For humans, that is."

Jack scoffed. "Like hell it isn't. We've had sex before, in case you haven't noticed and – by your own words – it happened mostly after you already knew you were a Time Lord. And you were fantastic."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "We aren't talking about my personal qualities in bed, Jack. The perception filter was still working by that time, so it affected me as much as it affected you, especially when we were together. So it was, well. Closer to what you expected it to be."

"What makes it so inconvenient, then?" God, let it be something they could get over. It just occurred to him now that maybe there was a reason why Time Lords weren't as focused on sex as other species were.

Ianto still seemed highly uncomfortable with the topic, but he managed to keep going anyway. "It's, uh. Rather intense. And it can go on for... quite some time."

Jack grinned up at him. "I don't see the problem."

"It can go on for hours."

"Hours as in–"

"As in four or five hours."

"Oh." Jack gulped. "That's– I could get used to that, actually."

"I'm sure you could." Ianto leant down to bite – not particularly gently – at his neck and Jack shivered. "Actually, I can see some very good opportunities arising out of it. Maybe not today, though."

"Yeah," Jack mumbled vaguely, not particularly interested in the last part. He squirmed under Ianto as his lover's lips wandered up his jaw line with light, deliciously frustrating kisses. "We could– we should wait if you want to– Ianto, you're making waiting kinda difficult here." He gritted out at last when the assault over his senses didn't stop.

"Sorry." Ianto immediately pulled back. He was still on top of Jack, though, and the Captain couldn't help but admire the self-control his lover was displaying. Ianto's eyes were closed and his breathing was perfectly measured as he took in deep, powerful breaths. Jack had seen that very expression before; it was usually the one Ianto got when he was trying to calm himself down.

"Did you tell the Doctor that I'm sleeping in your room?" Jack asked, trying to distract him. It was beyond him how the TARDIS had managed to build an exact copy of Ianto's room of his dreams – also known as the bedroom in his flat in Cardiff – in the matter of hours, but he felt rather comfortable in the familiar atmosphere of wood and brass and satin that just screamed 'Ianto'.

"He does," Ianto said, rolling off of Jack and onto the mattress next to him. "He came to check up on me just a minute before you woke up; wanted to see if I felt better. He didn't look best pleased, but that was to be expected."

"Yeah," Jack agreed wistfully. This Doctor seemed to feel better about him than the last one had, but that wasn't much in the way of improvement. "Well, I suppose we'll have to prove him wrong, right?" He said at last. "Make him see that a paradox and a Time Lord can make it work, can't we?"

Ianto beamed at him. "Definitely." He cupped Jack's face with his palms as he kissed him – a chaste and short and yet breathtaking kiss, or so it felt to Jack. "And we have all the time in the world to do it."