Torchwood: Fanfic: Beguiling

[m_findlow]

Title: Beguiling
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Suzie, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 828 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316's prompt "Any, any, "We could have a group of half - naked models walking through the office and he doesn't even turn his head to look." "Do you?" "We're not talking about me."" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack is perplexed by his latest teammate

Beguiling. Yes, that was the word. Totally, utterly, beguiling.

Jack was staring to rack his brains as to how he could ruffle the man's feathers. Nothing he'd tried so far had come even close to it.

He had a knack for reading people, and he'd been pretty certain that Ianto fancied him, even just a little bit. Determined as he was to get into Torchwood, there was no denying that capturing Myfanwy had been a rush, and that he wasn't the least bit ashamed at having fallen for the man at the warehouse, literally on top of him. Despite the rush of adrenaline, he was also pretty sure that if he hadn't hesitated for that split second longer, the pair of them would have been snogging like a pair of desperate teenagers and rolling around in the dirt on the floor, drugged dinosaur or not.

But instead he had hesitated, just a moment whilst their bodies were pressed so deliciously together, and had given Ianto the moment he needed to regain his composure and to make his escape. But he wasn't going to get far. Jack didn't have a job for him, and he hadn't wanted him up until about ten minutes before that, but there was no way in hell he was letting him slip through his fingers now.

'Hey! Report for work first thing tomorrow.'

There's a pause, and he looks back over his shoulder at Jack, but the expression is inscrutable.

'Like the suit, by the way.' He's really hoping that also makes a return tomorrow.

Tomorrow has come and gone, as have all the days since, but he just can't figure out the man. He's quiet and not at all outspoken, though at the same time he's made his views on the state of the hub and their internal procedures, or lack thereof, very clear to Jack. Instead of being impressed by their operation, he seems disappointed, and Jack's nothing if not a showman, so the observations cut him to the quick.

And that's to say nothing of this attempts to rekindle whatever spark he'd felt that first night. Ianto let him have his playful banter and tete a tete, giving back as good as he got, but he couldn't get any closer to scratching the surface of what made him tick.

Sure, Jack hadn't made any overt moves. Ianto was still new, and it didn't do well to upset the balance he had with his other teammates who'd come to be a friendly and well oiled machine. And sleeping with your employees never ended well.

Despite that, the others seemed to sense Jack's demeanor shift whenever the man was in the room, or even within range of his gaze, looking out over the hub. Once or twice he'd been caught out just staring at the man pottering about the hub, when he was supposed to be listening to whatever report was being delivered to him from the opposite side of his desk. And then one day the others had seemed to come to accept that Jack was distracted by him, and worked around it, waiting until he was down in the archives before trying to have any sort of meaningful conversation with Jack.

Owen and Suzie had spent hours speculating on whether they really were shagging, or whether it was a completely one sided affair. In the end they both agreed that Ianto seemed like too much of a straight laced mummy's boy. Probably had never even gotten his feet under the table with a girl, poor sod.

Jack's mood seemed to settle after a few weeks, and the team had reasoned that he'd not given up, but that his frustration at being stymied had reached a plateau.

One afternoon as he and Suzie were working on a device that looked rather unequivocally like a giant metal phallus, he couldn't help but make some lewd jokes when Ianto brought their coffee over, and a suggestion that he might like to take a closer look, hoping to get a rise out of him, or at least an embarrassed pink flush to his cheeks. Instead the only reply he received was "I'm sure I wouldn't know anything about that sort of thing, sir" before he walked away to continue his duties.

Jack looked flabbergasted, and Suzie couldn't help but grin. He looked like someone had kicked his dog, and those sad puppy dog eyes seemed to trail after Ianto's shadow until he disappeared completely from view.

Suzie couldn't help herself. She'd been ragging on Jack since almost the first day she'd joined, and this was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

'Maybe you should have offered him a look at the real thing?'

Jack scoffed, shaking his head, as if in disbelief.

'We could have a group of half-naked models walking through the office and he doesn't even turn his head to look.'

'Do you?'

'We're not talking about me.'

'My mistake,' Suzie said knowing she'd scored the point. 'Still, I wouldn't wait too long if I were you. Someone's bound to take notice of him sooner or later.'

'Don't you have some work to do?' he spat back.

'Yes, sir,' she replied.

Comments

[jo02]

Liked this a lot; nice acerbic tone :)

[bk_forever]

Poor Jack, nothing is more tempting or more desirable than something that remains just out of reach. But faint heart never won fair Ianto, so don't give up, Jack. You'll get your man in the end.