galadriel1010 | Timelord!Ianto: Change 3

Title: Trials of a Timelord: Change of Place
Chapter Title: Chapter 3
Challenge/Fest: LongLiveIanto Bingo
Prompt: Camping
Rating: G
Dedication:
Summary: Jack and Ianto go on a research trip in a tent.
Characters: Jack and Ianto
Contains:
Disclaimer: Torchwood and its environs, occurrences and persons belong to the BBC. The original characters have disowned me.

Ianto stared at the canvas in front of his face and sighed. The pitter-patter of rain had faded away some time back, and the sensors they'd set up were still stubbornly silent. Across the tent he heard Jack turn over, and he turned his head to look at him through the near-darkness. “Jack?” he whispered. “Are you awake?”

He got a whispered reply of, “Yes. I never sleep.”

“Oh.” Ianto rolled onto his side as well, even though they could barely see each other. “Me neither.”

“Why didn't you say something?”

“I thought you did sleep,” Jack hissed. “Why are we whispering?”

Ianto laughed and reached out for the lamp. The sudden brightness stung his eyes, and Jack tugged his sleeping bag over his head completely. He laughed and rubbed at his eyes, flopping the other arm across the space between them to poke Jack. “Good job you brought me, really. I can keep you company.”

“And what lovely company it is,” Jack teased as he emerged from his sleeping bag. He squeezed Ianto's hand and propped himself up on his elbow, tousling his hair with one hand.

He smiled back and rubbed Jack's hand with his thumb, lost in thought. They lay like that for a while, holding hands in the darkness and enjoying the quiet. The wind stirred the grass and rattled their tent occasionally, and they could hear the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks at the foot of the cliff, but it retreated to a calming sussurrus at the edges of Ianto's senses. Jack's hand was warm and firm in his, and he slid his fingers to the side just enough so that he could curl them between Ianto's.

A shrill tone seared through the night and Jack cursed under his breath, fumbling in the space between them for the flashing phone. Ianto rested his cheek in his hand and studied Jack's face now it was lit by his phone. “Have they got trouble?”

“No...” He dropped the phone again and sat up properly. “There's been a murder, Suzie and Owen are going out to test the glove again.”

“I don't like that thing,” Ianto muttered. Jack nodded curtly, but unfolded his coat from where it had been doing service as his pillow and crawled towards the tent door. “Do you think they'll be out by now?”

“They should be,” Jack agreed. “If not we can wait for them. You can stay in here if you like, and I'll call you out when it's time.”

“No, I'll come.” He sat up and pulled his hooded jumper on before he got out of his sleeping bag, then emerged into the cold, damp night behind Jack. The wind tugged at his hair and he was glad of the jumper, although he wished he had another pair of trousers on. “Any sign, yet?” he called.

Jack held his hand up in warning before beckoning him forwards. “They're here,” he whispered, crouching and creeping closer to the cliff edge. “Watch your step.”

Ianto grabbed the binoculars from the entrance of the tent and edged forwards to Jack. Outside the tent it was slightly lighter, just enough that he could make out where Jack was and where the cliff dropped away. Down below the beach was scattered with dull blue glows that pulsed with a regular rhythm, and they moved around slowly away from the water. “There's more of them than I expected,” he admitted quietly. “Where do they come from?”

“They live in the caves at the base of these cliffs most of the year,” Jack said, close behind him. “They only come out to lay their eggs in the sand, and then they'll go again for another year.” He sighed and looped his arm around Ianto's waist easily. “We've checked the water and the beaches; they're not contaminating it, not turning up in nets or rockpools, not really doing anything much apart from living in the cliffs under a live firing zone.”

Ianto leaned back against Jack and chuckled. Jack's arm tightened around him and he snuggled into it, into his warmth. “Not a bad life, if you're deaf.”

“You know them, then?”

“No.” He lowered his binoculars and set them down beside him. “There's so many non-sentient species in the universe, I could never know them all. But they must either not have hearing or be accustomed to loud noises to live here. It would be quite nice otherwise.”

“A bit like living on Mermaid Quay, really,” Jack teased. “Although if you don't speak it's probably not so much of a problem.”

“I watch a lot of films and TV, and browse the internet.” He smiled to himself. “Mostly I antagonise the tin-hatters.”

Jack laughed, warm and loud against Ianto's ear, and hugged him tighter. “Tosh and I were wondering who that was. You need a hobby.”

“Well, you could come and keep me company,” he suggested. Jack drew in a sharp breath and he straightened up reluctantly. “If you don't want to, though...”

“I'd love to.” Jack cut him off. “I'll make salacious comments, you'll ignore me, we'll have a pleasant night curled up on the sofa in front of a movie.”

Ianto rested his head against Jack's, leaning back into him again. “And some nights we'll watch aliens mating on the beaches of South Wales. You're such a romantic, Jack.”

“I'll take you for breakfast,” Jack laughed. “Maybe I'll ask them to put a candle on the table for us as well. A string quartet and a dozen red roses...” He yelped as Ianto pushed him over and pressed cold fingers against his neck. “Oh, you want to fight dirty?”

He scrambled up and backwards towards the tent. “Not at the edge of the cliff...”

Jack dove after him and tugged him into the tent, and they set the sensors off as they careened into them, yelping and laughing.

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