m_findlow

Title: Who's in charge here?
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Myfanwy
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 710 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "any, any, pet-sitting" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto has left Jack in charge of something very important

Jack didn't like going to conferences. That was why he did his best to palm them off to Ianto. It was much more his cup of tea. After all, he was the organised type, who got on well with everyone, and didn't get bored easily.

The downside was that it meant Jack had to live without Ianto for a few days. It wasn't the amazing sex that he missed, or the attractiveness of the man himself in those luscious suits. He could even almost make it without the incredibly delicious coffee.

No, the hardest part was taking over all of the tasks that he was responsible for. And every time he sent Ianto on a conference, that list of things seemed to grow longer and more comprehensive than the time before.

At least Ianto had done the courtesy of giving him a list, but he'd nearly choked when he read it. He knew Ianto was solely responsible for keeping their whole organisation ticking over, but there were so many things that he simply took for granted and never thought about, simply because they were always done, and he never had to give them a second thought. They just faded into the background, much like the person responsible for them was so adept at doing.

But there was one thing at the very top of the list, which Ianto had listed as more important than everything else.

Look after Myfanwy.

And he would take on the task personally. He knew how much it meant to Ianto. Myf represented so many things. She had been his way into getting a job at Torchwood, her capture the first moments he spent with Jack, when he'd begun to feel the attraction that would ultimately wear him down until he gave into it completely. She was also one of his best friends and far more than just a household pet. Jack even had cause to occasionally be jealous of the special treatment he afforded her.

Myfanwy got along with everyone at the hub reasonably well, but it was clear that only Ianto got special consideration in her books. She also knew that she had to share Ianto with Jack, and that she wasn't always entirely happy about it. At least they had that much in common.

It was always a bit of a rocky start when Myf discovered that she'd been left in Jack's care. She liked to play up to it, just to prove that she was the boss, and that Jack would have to earn her good humour. That usually entailed being snappy and difficult when he tried to bring her food or change the hay in her nest.

Even when he plied her with chocolate she seemed to sense that she had the upper hand, and milked it for what it was worth.

'Come on! Play nice,' Jack complained as she dug her nose against the bucket of fresh water, tipping it over just as soon as Jack had set it down. 'Now I have to go all the way back down there and get more.'

She squawked and tucked into the other bucket full of fish, ignoring him for the moment. He trudged back down and replaced the bucket of water, knowing he had no choice.

When he returned and started sorting out her fresh bedding, she decided to hinder his efforts and poke her nose into the hay, flicking it at him.

He couldn't believe it. Here he was, a 51st century immortal, and leader of Torchwood, losing out to a prehistoric bird.

Frustrated, he grabbed a handful of hay and threw it back at her. She squawked again and flicked more. Then it turned into an all out fight as hay began flying everywhere. In the moments distraction as Jack reached down for more, she managed to knock him over onto his back and pushed a whole pile of straw on top of him.

He pulled himself out and grabbed her leg, so that now they were both floundering in the mess, laughing and squawking, neither remembering the point at which they went from enemies to best friends once more.

Both of them realised that even though Ianto wasn't here, having each other was probably the next best thing.