36
Ianto was reaching down again, a full breath of air before letting himself submerge down to the shelf and the little cave beneath it, the treasure trove still coming to light.
Three cell phones, two sets of keys, a pretty little cigarette lighter case (contraband as no smoking in the Domes was clearly posted on all doorways as well as in contracts to allow entry), untold tools and then Ianto lifted something that WAS a surprise to him, the shock on his face clear as he erupted from the water to stand dripping with it in his hand.
Jack turned with the press he was talking to and looked down at Ianto's hand, squeaked, then started to bray with mirth.
"Is that…. Is that a retainer?" one of the reporters asked with shock.
"Well… I hope it was sitting somewhere and not nicked right out of a sleeping person's gob" Ianto huffed holding it between thumb and forefinger as the place erupted with laughter as he handed it to Jack. "Aren't they lucky it is intact, could have bene smashed with a rock by now. God."
Jack held out his hand as one of the support workers slid over with a sheepish look on his face to accept back his retainer. Jack did not say a single solitary word, just placed the retainer in the man's hand and kept watching Ianto who was now dipping under the water again.
The water started to churn, and Jack laughed as the otters arrived, determined to save some of their goodies and Ianto rose with an otter in his arms, the thing trying to either cuddle or throttle him, hard to tell which it was. Jack held out what looked like an energy bar and the otter stopped scolding Ianto to accept it from Jack with a look of extreme anger.
Finally Ianto stepped out of the water to reveal some powerfully muscled legs that had Jack sighing with delight as the hairs dripped from the pool, Ianto looking at him with a roll of his eyes and pointing at the towel in Jack's hand.
"Oh right… sorry Tiger" Jack grinned, handing over the towel and then grinning wider as Ianto bent over to rub his legs, the wet arse now on display. Jack turned to the camera and made a show of moving his hands to cover the lovely arse as he mouthed 'mine' and winked.
"Cariad? You bein' a letch back there?"
"You know it" Jack replied with glee and everyone roared with mirth.
Ianto rose and kissed him. Heavy, hard and with affection, then thrust the towel at him "here, wipe your chin. Dribbler."
Jack laughed, slapping at the wet arse as Ianto headed for the shower block, the media rushing to follow the two lovebirds that the entire nation… if not the entire world… were in love with.
They ate while everyone talked at once, the conversation mostly the newbies allowed in to join the Dome Teams, their excitement levels high, as those who lived there had been at first. It was kinda nice for Ianto to see the Domes being treated with affection and he was about to ask a question when something occurred to him.
"Jack? Is there room for everyone?"
Jack tuned to quietly remind him that not everyone slept on base. The Domes were open now, no lockdown and most went home at night.
Oh yeah.
Ianto laughed at himself, still in lockdown brain. Wow… just a regular job, go home to your family at night. He looked at Jack again and Jack knew what he was thinking, "This is Home Tiger. I will always be right here… beside you. Wherever that might be."
"Sorry… I am being a bit needy aren't I".
"No, you are just wanting your boxes ticked. I used to think you were overly… intense. Now I understand that you hate the chaos, you hate change and you really… Really hate not knowing things" Jack sighed as he rubbed Ianto's thigh "I am happy to answer questions that need an answer to be given."
"I love you."
"I love you too" Jack was genuinely surprised leaning back slightly "Hey… we are solid. OK? Solid. No piece of tail wagged at me, no tits wobbled in my direction will make me second guess this. No dick pointing either."
"Stop it" Ianot blushed, clearly delighted to her that "And… ditto. Ya know, I …. Really… yeah."
"Right, so let's change the subject and get dessert sorted" Jack rose, pulling out Ianto's chair for him as they headed to the kitchen to help serve the best portion of the meal.
Ianto let it all go.
He had control of his pocket of the world, it was enough.
.
.
"Hi Uncle Ianto"
"Oh my god… she is sooo cute" Jack gushed as he rushed to seize Mica and lift her up for a cuddle. It was not their first meeting, more like their fourth… or firth? He just acted like this every time and she giggled as she threw her arms around him.
"Uncle Jack!" she enthused, kissing his cheek as he swung her about.
"Hey everyone… look out. Princess coming in!" Jack roared racing off as David stood with the bags and looking so much like Ianto that it was unnerving. Both of them gave one another an identical eye roll before Ianto picked up the bags and David shouldered his back pack with his all-important laptop and such inside, following his uncle into the Domes he had waited so long to be part of.
"Right, you are both in with me and Uncle Jack. We put up bunk beds…"
"I got the top?"
"Of course" Ianto replied without looking down at the child "Goes without saying, you like heights. Like Jack… he slept in the top bunk this afternoon… hid from the cameras who never thought to look up. A bit sneaky."
David laughed, instantly relaxing as he had been worried about that sort of thing. Like his uncle he likes to know the facts.
And like his uncle, he wanted somewhere safe to hide.
.
.
.
OK, I am doing the Christmas stories again, if you want a gift this Christmas you need to think it over and let me know. If it is something that I can get a handle on, I will do it. Please know that some might not get done because I need to visualise it to write it. So… a few options might be the go if you are looking for new stories, Christmas editions or something.