Summer 2003
Ianto hated mornings to the depths of his being. More specifically, he hated hangovers. There was nothing unusual about that, especially for a university student, but Ianto – as in all things – was different. Instead of going to the clubs or house parties with mates, he drank alone in his tidy, shabby, closet-sized bedsit.
He was surer every day that university was a waste of time. He couldn't ever remember being less sure of himself and his place in the world. He could hardly see the point in finishing a university degree when he was fairly sure he'd wind up doing office support or something equally unskilled. And anyway, when drinking, it was easier to pretend he didn't spend about 60% of his waking time thinking about good-looking men. Or that it didn't bother him, more like.
Most days it was easier to stay curled up in his bed reading or half-heartedly making notes for assignments. He regarded his fellow students as colleagues rather than friends and avoided most organized extracurricular social activities. The few people he did talk to socially was mainly for the purpose of keeping up with classwork.
Ianto chose to work off-campus as it allowed him to feel more independent of university life. He felt more comfortable interacting with picky customers who wanted their cappuccinos and lattes remade than with his peers. Though, Ianto was so charming and made such good coffee that very few people ever had any complaints.
Then there was a day in an astronomy class (which he only rarely attended because he could have passed all the exams in his sleep) that made Ianto Jones begin to think about the world a bit differently. It was called the Drake equation and at first sounded like something out of one of those old sci-fi programs that Ianto thought were cheap and tacky even as a kid. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Their instructor, who'd spent most of his career working for NASA, projected some images of deep space from Hubble and explained that what they could see, even with the most advanced technology, was no more than a single grain of sand on a beach. Hundreds of billions of galaxies, at billions of stars per galaxy, and each of those stars capable of hosting planets which could support life… it all sounded so big to Ianto, but suddenly made so much sense.
After class, Ianto stayed back to talk to the instructor, Dr. Lethbridge, and to apologize for not attending his class more regularly. Ianto lost track of time as he conversed with Dr. Lethbridge and realized he hadn't felt so enthusiastic about anything in quite a long while. Dr. Lethbridge invited Ianto to come round for tea on the weekend as his cousin, who was apparently highly placed in some UN division, was coming down for a visit. Ianto accepted gratefully, even though he'd have to get someone to cover his shift at the café. Something told him that this was an extraordinary opportunity that just might change his life.
After that meeting, Ianto began applying himself more diligently, attending classes regularly and putting effort and care into his coursework. A month before officially finishing his degree, Ianto received a letter which, near as he could tell, seemed to be recruiting him to work as a researcher. He hadn't sent many resumes or inquiries to firms in London as he'd been considering going back home to Cardiff and maybe even doing some additional study there. If nothing else, Ianto figured he might as well take an interview with this Torchwood Institute. It certainly wouldn't hurt his chances of doing graduate study down the road and he wouldn't mind earning a real living for a while.
Life, it seemed, was finally giving him a bit of a break, Ianto thought. Now if he could only find somebody special. Well, special and acceptable, anyway.
Well, we generally know the story from there out. Maybe i'll do '06 and '09 just for completionism's sake?