Chapter Fourteen
OK..... please please PLEASE don't kill me for it being so long... again. Real life can be absolutely horrible at times, and everything decided to catch up with me at once... I can't say how sorry I am.... review, still?
Warning: Your teeth might ache from the fluff in this, but, believe me, there is a really important plot development in it... I always say that there's no such thing as "too much fluff", but I appreciate that not everybody agrees.
Ianto yawned and rolled over in bed, burying his head in the pillow. Beside him, Jack was seated up in bed, reading with the aid of a reading-light.
"D'you want me to turn off the light?" he offered quietly.
"Doesn' ma'ar," Ianto replied groggily, still fidgeting to get comfortable. He removed his head from the pillow and glared at the mattress. "God, could they make these beds any more uncomfortable?"
"That reminds me, have I told you about the time-" Jack was cut off by Ianto's hand slapped across his mouth.
"Not the time, Jack," Ianto said firmly, removing his hand and closing his eyes. "I'm trying to sleep."
Jack grinned affectionately and switched off his light, putting his book away. He lay down on his side behind Ianto and draped an arm over him.
Ianto grunted and relaxed slightly, the tension in his shoulders vanishing. "Mmmmhuh," he murmured. "Much better."
Jack laughed softly. "That was all a ruse to get me to hold you, wasn't it?"
"Don't know what you're talking a-" Ianto's innocent reply was ruined by the huge yawn that escaped him before he finished.
"You could have just asked me, y'know," Jack pointed out, kissing Ianto's neck.
"More fun this way," Ianto retorted, already sounding half-asleep.
Jack chuckled and stared out the porthole at the dark water of the marina, listening to the soft lapping of the waves against the hull of Skookumchuck.
His thoughts drifted from topic to topic. He tended to do a lot of thinking at night, especially now that he had taken to just lying in bed, watching Ianto sleep.
The sort of things he thought about ranged from completely random and irrelevant to what he had been thinking about before. One moment he would be thinking about whether he would be able to persuade the Doctor to take Ianto and himself for a short trip somewhere, and the next he would be wondering if he could prise the secret of Ianto's coffee-making skill from the Welshman, for future knowledge. Once a person had tasted Ianto's coffee, there was no going back to the muck the rest of the world likes to pass off as coffee. There was no way Jack was going to spend the rest of his life without coffee – for if he couldn't have Ianto with him forever, he wanted to keep something of his lover, and coffee seemed the best option.
His gaze flickered down to Ianto's still form. Even after many, many nights of watching him sleep, Jack would never get tired of it. There was something... enchanting about watching another person relax completely and unwind, unaware of being studied. Ianto was no exception – if anything, he was more enchanting. Though that, really, shouldn't have come as a revelation to Jack.
Ianto snuffled slightly and turned over, nestling against Jack's chest with a soft sigh. Jack smiled and closed his eyes, just savouring in the quiet of the small hours.
-T-
Toshiko couldn't sleep. Her head was buzzing and her fingertips were itching to do some work.
Careful not to disturb Gwen, who was snoring like a pig, Tosh grabbed her laptop and scampered into the main cabin to sit at the table.
She could hear Owen moving about in his cabin – probably reading and re-reading the few books he had brought with him. Toshiko briefly considered offering him a couple of her books. Even though they would be unlikely to last him long, they might do something to alleviate the boredom.
But then she remembered the last time she had offered him a boredom-buster... Owen hadn't taken it too well.
She sighed and turned the computer on. It took a few minutes to load, and Tosh drummed her fingers against the varnished top as she waited.
When the screen cleared into her familiar background, she opened up a couple of programs and properly relaxed. The comforting whirr of the computer and the quiet of the boat was intoxicating, like a cup of Ianto's coffee freshly brewed.
Apparently she had one new message in her Inbox.
That was weird.
Toshiko frowned and opened it. The frown-lines in her forehead grew deeper as she quickly read it.
-T-
Jack was rudely jolted out of his doze by a frantic Toshiko.
"What is it?" he asked, careful not to wake Ianto.
Tosh's eyes were wide, and she was twisting her fingers awkwardly. "I think there's something you ought to see," she said in a low voice. "Just... don't wake Ianto."
"Why?"
"It's about him."
Jack unwrapped his arm from around Ianto, who awoke in an instant.
"Jack?" Ianto asked uncertainly. "Where're you going?"
"I'll be right back," Jack promised. "Go back to sleep."
"But what is it?" Ianto persisted, sitting up and seeing Toshiko. "Tosh?"
"I just need to show Jack something," she explained guardedly, unsure of how much to tell him. "Won't be a minute."
Ianto shrugged and started to get up. "I'm already awake, I might as well help," he said.
Toshiko's eyes widened imperceptibly. "No, no – you go back to sleep. You must be exhausted."
Ianto narrowed his eyes at them. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing," Jack and Tosh said simultaneously.
Ianto looked hurt, and Jack could have smacked himself. "Look, it's just that if you get up too, then Owen will join in and get in the way, and eventually Gwen would wake up too."
"Eventually," Ianto muttered.
Jack felt really guilty. But until he knew what the problem was, he was going to do as Tosh said.
"Sorry, Yan," he said apologetically.
Toshiko was almost hopping from foot to foot with impatience, and Jack barely had time to throw his lover another remorseful look before she was forcibly dragging him out the cabin and pointing at the screen.
"Jack – look at this email," she said quietly.
Jack read it, before looking up at her with a horrified expression. "But – what do we do?"
This is pretty long for me, so I hope you enjoyed it! I'm kinda writing it by ear – there's no story plan so even I don't know what the e-mail says... though I have an inkling. –Cue dramatic drum-roll-
Reviews let me know what it is you like and don't like, and con-crit is much appreciated! I'm always looking to better my writing, so I'm very open to suggestions.