Fandomweekly Challenge 205 - Critique
Dec. 31st, 2024 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Critique
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: Post-canon
Author notes: Written for Challenge 205 - Procrastination at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly
Summary: : 1,000 words
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: Post-canon
Author notes: Written for Challenge 205 - Procrastination at
fandomweeklySummary: : 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto is acting uncharacteristically anxious and Jack wants to know why.
Traffic this morning was horrendous, Jack thought, watching the stream of blurring red tail lights snake away in front of them in the heavy drizzle. This was more than just congestion on a rainy day. There had to be something up ahead that was causing the bottleneck. It was lucky he wasn’t the one behind the wheel because he’d have been tearing his hair out by now. There was something about sitting in the passenger seat that somehow made being annoyed about the traffic someone else’s problem. At least that was true enough when whatever was causing it wasn’t alien, or preventing them from getting somewhere for the same reasons. None of the hub’s alarms were going off, so that made it okay to just sit and idle the time away in the car, listening to the semi-muted drone of breakfast radio.
Beside him in the driver's seat however, Ianto wasn’t looking nearly so calm about it. Ianto, who was the most patient person Jack knew, was getting anxious. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel, they looked for new itches to scratch on his neck or his leg or his arm, he adjusted the windscreen wipers to a faster setting to clear the view ahead and then switched them back to a lower speed. Everything screamed that something was bothering him and Jack could scarcely believe that a bit of Tuesday morning gridlock could be the root cause.
‘What’s up with you this morning?’ Jack asked, going for the direct approach. ‘You’re all twitchy.’
‘Nothing,’ came the short, one word reply.
‘Uh huh. Because we all know that nothing is never nothing. Nothing is code for someone is wrong and I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘Ianto, I’ve known you long enough to know that if something’s on your mind then chances are it’s not going away on its own. If you had it under control it wouldn't be a problem in the first place. So level with me. We’ve apparently got nothing but time to kill while we wait for this to clear. If it’s a malfunction with the one-way system, we could be here for days.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Being stuck here for a few days might be preferable.’
Jack chuckled. ‘Okay, now I know something’s wrong. You avoiding going to work has got to be the biggest red flag of all time.’
‘It’s not the hub,’ he replied, still staring at the rain as it was swept left then right across the windshield. ‘You know, we’re due some vacation days. Why don’t we take them this week? We could go to Portugal or somewhere.’
Jack levelled his gaze at his lover. ‘Ianto… What exactly is it that you’re trying to avoid?’ Ianto mumbled something that Jack couldn’t make out. ‘Say again?’
‘Performance reviews,’ Ianto repeated, this time clear enough to make out the words, delivered in a rush as they were.
Jack couldn't connect the dots yet. ‘So?’
‘I have to provide my summary report to His Majesty.’
‘That was today?’ Ianto nodded. ‘So what?’
Ianto returned his comment with a withering glare. ‘It’s my first time having to do this as the ultimate person in charge.’
Jack shrugged off the comment, wondering why Ianto was so uptight about it. He submitted the reviews on Jack's behalf every year. That was one of the joys of not being in charge anymore, even if he had managed to delegate the chore. ‘It's his first time reading them,’ Jack reminded him, the current monarch having succeeded his father. ‘He’s not going to know any better.’
‘Have you met him? He’s not his doddery old father.’
‘Hey, that’s the King you're talking about!’
‘Ex-king. His son is far younger and determined to have a far more stringent oversight on what we do.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Jack said, downplaying the drama. ‘As if you don’t have it all in hand.’ They hadn’t had a proper crisis in ages. Nothing that should concern anyone about Ianto's overarching leadership in any case. ‘A day late isn’t the end of the world. I'm sure His Majesty has far more interesting things to do than read a few performance reviews of people he doesn't even know. If they haven’t been done, they haven't been done. We have more important things to do.’
‘They’re done,’ Ianto said, cutting him off. ‘Well, I mean, mostly. All except for one, that is.’
Jack heaved a sigh. ‘Fine, tell me who the slacker is and I'll haul them into my office first thing when we get in.’ He couldn't think who it was. He was pretty sure he’d done all of his. it must have been one of those London office nerds. Jack would sort it out. Anything to keep Ianto from fussing over nothing.
‘It’s me,’ came the reply. ‘Well, you, actually. It’s your review that’s holding everything up.’
Jack scoffed a laugh. ‘You’re kidding! Well, let’s do it right now, then!’
Ianto's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. ‘I can’t.’
‘Of course you can. You say “Honey, you’re doing a great job and keep up the good work,” and I say “Thanks, honey.”
‘I have to document it.’
‘Okay, maybe it needs a little paraphrasing, then.’
‘Are you, though?’ Ianto asked. ‘Doing a good job, I mean. I think you are, but I’m in love with you. Is it even appropriate for me to judge? Why do you think I've been putting it off?’
Jack reached across and put a hand on his knee. ‘Ianto, you’re overthinking this way too much. Just say what you think. Doesn’t matter where it comes from.’ When Ianto didn't reply, Jack offered an olive branch. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll write it for you. Gods knows I'm my own biggest critic. And you’ll have the final right to edit.’
Ianto's shoulders slumped, like a weight had been lifted. ‘You’d do that?’
Jack smiled. ‘Of course. I’ll be recommending a pay rise, too.’
‘I suppose I can live with that.’
Traffic this morning was horrendous, Jack thought, watching the stream of blurring red tail lights snake away in front of them in the heavy drizzle. This was more than just congestion on a rainy day. There had to be something up ahead that was causing the bottleneck. It was lucky he wasn’t the one behind the wheel because he’d have been tearing his hair out by now. There was something about sitting in the passenger seat that somehow made being annoyed about the traffic someone else’s problem. At least that was true enough when whatever was causing it wasn’t alien, or preventing them from getting somewhere for the same reasons. None of the hub’s alarms were going off, so that made it okay to just sit and idle the time away in the car, listening to the semi-muted drone of breakfast radio.
Beside him in the driver's seat however, Ianto wasn’t looking nearly so calm about it. Ianto, who was the most patient person Jack knew, was getting anxious. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel, they looked for new itches to scratch on his neck or his leg or his arm, he adjusted the windscreen wipers to a faster setting to clear the view ahead and then switched them back to a lower speed. Everything screamed that something was bothering him and Jack could scarcely believe that a bit of Tuesday morning gridlock could be the root cause.
‘What’s up with you this morning?’ Jack asked, going for the direct approach. ‘You’re all twitchy.’
‘Nothing,’ came the short, one word reply.
‘Uh huh. Because we all know that nothing is never nothing. Nothing is code for someone is wrong and I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘Ianto, I’ve known you long enough to know that if something’s on your mind then chances are it’s not going away on its own. If you had it under control it wouldn't be a problem in the first place. So level with me. We’ve apparently got nothing but time to kill while we wait for this to clear. If it’s a malfunction with the one-way system, we could be here for days.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Being stuck here for a few days might be preferable.’
Jack chuckled. ‘Okay, now I know something’s wrong. You avoiding going to work has got to be the biggest red flag of all time.’
‘It’s not the hub,’ he replied, still staring at the rain as it was swept left then right across the windshield. ‘You know, we’re due some vacation days. Why don’t we take them this week? We could go to Portugal or somewhere.’
Jack levelled his gaze at his lover. ‘Ianto… What exactly is it that you’re trying to avoid?’ Ianto mumbled something that Jack couldn’t make out. ‘Say again?’
‘Performance reviews,’ Ianto repeated, this time clear enough to make out the words, delivered in a rush as they were.
Jack couldn't connect the dots yet. ‘So?’
‘I have to provide my summary report to His Majesty.’
‘That was today?’ Ianto nodded. ‘So what?’
Ianto returned his comment with a withering glare. ‘It’s my first time having to do this as the ultimate person in charge.’
Jack shrugged off the comment, wondering why Ianto was so uptight about it. He submitted the reviews on Jack's behalf every year. That was one of the joys of not being in charge anymore, even if he had managed to delegate the chore. ‘It's his first time reading them,’ Jack reminded him, the current monarch having succeeded his father. ‘He’s not going to know any better.’
‘Have you met him? He’s not his doddery old father.’
‘Hey, that’s the King you're talking about!’
‘Ex-king. His son is far younger and determined to have a far more stringent oversight on what we do.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Jack said, downplaying the drama. ‘As if you don’t have it all in hand.’ They hadn’t had a proper crisis in ages. Nothing that should concern anyone about Ianto's overarching leadership in any case. ‘A day late isn’t the end of the world. I'm sure His Majesty has far more interesting things to do than read a few performance reviews of people he doesn't even know. If they haven’t been done, they haven't been done. We have more important things to do.’
‘They’re done,’ Ianto said, cutting him off. ‘Well, I mean, mostly. All except for one, that is.’
Jack heaved a sigh. ‘Fine, tell me who the slacker is and I'll haul them into my office first thing when we get in.’ He couldn't think who it was. He was pretty sure he’d done all of his. it must have been one of those London office nerds. Jack would sort it out. Anything to keep Ianto from fussing over nothing.
‘It’s me,’ came the reply. ‘Well, you, actually. It’s your review that’s holding everything up.’
Jack scoffed a laugh. ‘You’re kidding! Well, let’s do it right now, then!’
Ianto's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. ‘I can’t.’
‘Of course you can. You say “Honey, you’re doing a great job and keep up the good work,” and I say “Thanks, honey.”
‘I have to document it.’
‘Okay, maybe it needs a little paraphrasing, then.’
‘Are you, though?’ Ianto asked. ‘Doing a good job, I mean. I think you are, but I’m in love with you. Is it even appropriate for me to judge? Why do you think I've been putting it off?’
Jack reached across and put a hand on his knee. ‘Ianto, you’re overthinking this way too much. Just say what you think. Doesn’t matter where it comes from.’ When Ianto didn't reply, Jack offered an olive branch. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll write it for you. Gods knows I'm my own biggest critic. And you’ll have the final right to edit.’
Ianto's shoulders slumped, like a weight had been lifted. ‘You’d do that?’
Jack smiled. ‘Of course. I’ll be recommending a pay rise, too.’
‘I suppose I can live with that.’
