Authors Note:I am posting an extra chapter today as the next one is very short. Enjoy.
Marigold.
Picking up the jumper Jack moved to pick up the tee shirt. 'The one good thing about all this was that if ever he needed to find Ianto all he would needed to do was follow the trail of clothes. Every morning without fail he helped Ianto dress, and every afternoon as he walked to the French doors to go outside he took off each and every piece of clothing.
It had started the day of the storm; the release of shouting into the wind also appeared to have also released Ianto's inhibitions. The good thing was that Ianto was getting a fine tan. After being so long indoors he had been very pale, now he was a very healthy colour. Jack looked out the window Ianto was watering the garden. This was an aspect that Jack had never known about Ianto because he had never shown a love of the outdoors before the year that never was. He watched as he to used his fingers to make a spray with the hose and watched as rainbows were formed.
When he had remodelled the house he had wondered if he should also develop the garden. He was glad he had not; Ianto revelled in the outdoors. His two hours outdoors involved a lot of digging, weeding and watering. It was early summer so not much point in planting a lot but they could prepare. Next spring Jack wanted to plant multiple beds to encourage butterflies as Ianto loved them so much. He also wanted to set up a vegetable garden in the hope Ianto might be encouraged to eat them. Right now all there were was a couple of cabbages which attracted white cabbage butterflies. Ianto kept a running log of how many eggs and caterpillars were on each every day and how many butterflies he had seen. This is what he appeared to be doing now, as he laid down, then went onto his hands and knees followed by checking the leaves to double check exactly how many there were.
Jack got out his pad ready as Ianto came towards him. Leaning towards him Ianto whispered into his ear "eleven and forty two." Jack knew what this meant; there were eleven caterpillars and forty two eggs.
"Not as many as yesterday then. Some of them must have hatched," Jack said as Ianto grabbed his arm and led him to the cabbages. With extreme care Ianto looked though the leaves and picked up a particularly large caterpillar into his palm and showed it to Jack.
"Greedy, biggest," he told Jack as he stroked the caterpillar gently with one finger then placed it back on the leaf.
"Fattest," Jack told him. Ianto smiled at him, then stood up and dusted off his hands. Picking up his spade he now moved the back of the garden and started to continue digging the beds they had laid out.
Jack went to join him. He had never seen anyone enjoy outdoor labour like this. Ianto was doing what he always did now: when he found something he enjoyed doing he did it with complete abandonment. He was horribly thin, still refusing to eat anything but his rubbish diet, but aside from that his health was much improved and he was getting more toned.
Talking about health...tomorrow was going to be their first expedition into the small village about four miles down the lane. It was a good hike and was part of the new routine. Tuesday and Thursday mornings they were going to walk into the village. There was also the wharf where several fishing boats were moored, supporting the local fishing community. Ianto should enjoy the fishing vessels, being mechanical in nature, and the bustle of activity. A fine white sand beach ran along the shore line away from the harbour and according to the tourist information on the web, otters were rumoured to be in residence. It was good exercise and every two weeks they would meet the library bus. It came over from the mainland and visited the village here as well as two others, Jack let out a long sigh and he contemplated the battle ahead, like all change with Ianto it was hard work and preparation.
Jack knew he had to pick his battles with Ianto and he had thought long and hard about what exactly he was going to change. Since they had arrived they had followed the schedule from the unit. It kept Ianto safe but also kept him stuck. To move forward things had to change. Their trips into the village were non-negotiable and at this moment the immovable object had met the unstoppable force.
Standing with his arms crossed Ianto pouted. He did not want to leave. He liked it here. He never wanted to leave again. But Jack had that look and he knew what it meant; it meant he was going to lose. Jack had laid it out. They were here now that meant some things would change. He hated change; at this moment he should be drawing, he had found more butterflies on the internet he wanted to draw. Tosh had sent him a new maths puzzle; a real good one, and he needed to look at it and do some thinking. Then there was morning tea followed by his jigsaws. He had just got all the edge done and sorted all the pieces into colours.
Lunch followed and then it was the garden if the weather was good. After afternoon tea, Jack would read to him, and then he studied his books on how things worked. Dinner was followed by a shower. Early evening was TV time. They didn't watch the news because it upset him so he could watch one of his discs, right now it was 'Robots'. Followed by cleaning teeth, a bed time story, then bed. He lay awake half sleeping until Jack joined him and then he went to sleep proper and it all started again next day at 6.30am when the alarm woke him up.
He kissed Jack and gave him a big hug, kissed him again because he was always grumpy in the mornings, went and had a piss then it was downstairs for breakfast. What followed was free time which he hated so he played the cool game Jack had found on the internet, called 'The Incredible Machine' where he could make things happen. He loved it because unlike the math which was easy, he really had to work out how to put each part together and work out the solution. He would then clean his teeth, they had a tidy up then it was drawing time at 8.30. And that time was right now.
This was outside, not outside like in the garden but outside the garden. He looked out the front door his gaze following the garden path to the gate and the lane. But this was different, this was outside, outside. No he didn't like it one bit, and he stamped his foot.
"Ianto, has it ever occurred to you, you might actually enjoy it?" Jack told him.
"No," Ianto replied so quietly Jack almost missed it and he kept his face neutral.
"Listen mister, we are going, so you need to put one foot in front of the other," Jack said as Ianto narrowed his eyes. "Have you got the map and the photographs?" he asked. He saw the folder under Ianto's arm.
"Okay off we go." He saw Ianto waver and step forward. Jack let out the breath he was holding onto as he closed and locked the front door. 'Well that only took two hours,' he said to himself.
Trying not to huff in frustration they walked with extreme slowness down the lane towards the village. He swallowed down several sarcastic comments, because he knew they would be taken literally. 'Could you walk any slower,' would be met with Ianto actually walking slower. If nothing else he had managed to get Ianto out of the house. It had been a hard won victory after a marathon of sulking, passive resistance, a strop and then downright refusal followed by Jack's ultimatum of no computer time for his game, or any other treats. He had finally calmed down and got ready. Even that was a battle, Jack had literally had to dress him like a mannequin, a live one.
Jack was well used to this because it happened whenever there was change. He looked at Ianto who was showing absolutely no interest in his surroundings, keeping to his blank state. He was like moving statue. They reached the farm gate of David Morgan's Farm. Their property bordered on to the bottom of their garden and he was the owner of all the sheep Ianto had pointed out first day. He moved off and a few steps later he realised Ianto had not kept up. He turned and saw he was standing transfixed. Coming towards him was a huge pink pig. As she made her way across Ianto did not take his eyes off her, and he squirmed with excitement as he pointed towards her.
As the pig got closer Ianto's eyes got wider and wider, until she was at the gate looking up at him. The pig snuffled and Ianto reached out his hand, as he did she made a sharper noise. Ianto took a sharp breath which was an indication his interest had been piqued. He looked at Jack his mouth open in utter amazement.
"It's a pig," Jack explained. As he did she looked up and Ianto leaned down and touched her head. She made a grunt.
As she did Ianto took in a sharp breath. "She spoke," he said, speaking out loud for the first time.
He leaned down again and she made a snuffle. "Can you speak pig?" he asked looking at Jack expectantly.
"No," Jack replied.
"I think I can," Ianto announced.
"I see," Jack commented surprised at his reply.
"She said hello," Ianto told him seriously and put down his hand again and was rewarded with another snuffle.
"She said she's hungry," he told Jack after a few moments has passed. Jack looked down at the huge animal thinking her bulk suggested that she wasn't hungry just greedy. His thoughts were interrupted as Ianto took off his backpack and brought out his morning tea of two biscuits.
Before he could stop him he had poked the two biscuits through the bars and she snaffled them up with typical pig enthusiasm, grunting happily then looked at him.
"All gone," he said showed his hands were empty. Seeing nothing more was on offer she waddled away.
"I'll bring more next time, promise," Ianto called out after her as he turned to Jack who put his arm around Ianto and they watched her move her vast bulk down the solid wall of the field.
"Wooooh," Ianto said in a long breath, once she was out of sight. Looking at Jack he took hold of his hand and now moved eagerly down the lane, almost skipping.
"I never knew I could speak pig," Ianto admitted.
"I didn't either, you're very clever," Jack commented enjoying his enthusiasm.
Jack was a curious being; he had been the recipient and giver of many kisses. In his long life he had kissed many beings, some kisses bestowed were wonderful, others were divine, the odd one was nasty and some were just plain disgusting. As they walked down the lane he found himself flooded with a strange desire because for first time in his life he wanted to jump a fence and kiss a pig.