othercaptjack | (no subject)

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milliways

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Jack has spent the last couple of weeks in a strange balance between relaxing and becoming increasingly stressed. The Doctor is conspicuously absent, and it seems almost certain that if he wants to get back to his home universe - Cardiff or otherwise - he needs to go out to the same place he came in from.

That wasn't fun last time.

So instead of going over options in his head again, he's sitting in his new room drafting a hugely belated resignation letter to Lilly - she's another one he can't find.

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"Oh, dear God," Ianto groans. "It is."

"Not on Earth," Jack qualifies hastily.

You know, that they know of.

"Well. It's broken. I made very sure."

"All right." He stems the rising tide of panic. ""So, then, on Earth it's probably just a supernatural phenomenon and must be battled by supernatural means."

"Right," Jack says, stroking the back of his neck lightly.

"It's never been a huge problem for us."

"Back to the begging for religious relics plan, then." He settles against Jack again, his breathing easier. "I'll ask around."

Jack smiles.

"You do that. Always best to be prepared."

"Yes, sir." He relaxes against Jack even more, on the verge of sleep. "Thank you for sitting up with me. It helps."

"It's not exactly a hardship, Ianto."

(Read: I am incapable of expressing sincere affection verbally. Joking/flirting will have to do.)

"Yes, well," Ianto mumbles. He is picking up on the local lingo, but the learning is slow. No lexicon.

Jack laughs softly.

"Come on. Sleep. You'll be sore enough in the morning without exhaustion, too."

"Would rather talk," Ianto mumbles sleepily and yawns.

Jack smiles to himself at the drowsiness in Ianto's voice.

"Sure," he says. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Dunno . . . just like your voice."

Sleepier and sleepier.

Oh, Jack's ego doesn't need that.

Jack himself, however, likes it very much.

"Oh really?" he says. "Well, I can only do my best."

Ianto makes an affirmative sort of sound. There's a moment or two of curling up and shifting to get comfortable.

"Tell me," he says when he's settled again, "tell me about when you were here before."

Jack has to think for a bit.

When he speaks again, his voice is subtly more melancholy.

"When I was first here..." he says quietly. "I was a lot younger, obviously. Quite a lot stupider."

Happier.

"I think it was a year or two ago, bar time."

Ianto rubs Jack's stomach lightly.

"I know people missed you."

Jack shifts slightly.

"I thought they might all have moved on," he says. "Gone, or..."

He shrugs.

"But they're not, are they? Not all of them."

"No."

Sam, Ace; apparently still Atton, Lilly, Puck... even the Doctor, although Jack has searched high and low and not found him.

"No, a lot are still here."

"Good." He's quiet. "I'd hate for you to be lonely here."

"I don't have the knack for loneliness," says Jack, with a chuckle.

(He's got the knack for lying down perfectly.)

"Mm-hmm," says Ianto, who has a knack for not believing him. "If you're happy I'll try not to worry so much."

And miss him so much.

Hard to say which is more difficult.

"Hey, aren't I the one who should be doing the worrying?" Jack asks.

"Tonight you can," Ianto says and gives him his most innocent smile.

He's very good at looking innocent.

"Tomorrow it's back to normal."