BTBD Challenge 35 - Explosion of colour
Sep. 25th, 2016 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Title: Explosion of colour
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 867 words
Content notes: Written for Challenge 35 - Experimentation
Summary: Jack's been busy whilst Ianto has been away.
Ianto was relaxing back into the tall seat as the train rumbled across the countryside, speeding him back home from London. The conference had been remarkably productive for once, UNIT having been amenable to many of Torchwood's suggestions for improving relations and representation with the Shadow Proclamation, and beginning the tentative first steps towards an exchange of technology, for the purposes of research only. Even Jack could hardly say no to that, and Tosh had worked hard to put foward the proposal, ensuring certain safeties were in place. Ianto had been her biggest advocate, and Jack had found it hard to deny to pair of them.
As the skies outside began to drain and the first few drops of rain spattered the window he smiled, knowing home was not far away now, the rain like a local welcome wagon. He texted Jack his arrival time, knowing he wouldn't fancy walking home in the rain, but that he'd grab a cab. He couldn't wait to tell him all the news, but was also looking forward to curling up on the sofa with a nice cup of coffee. A week of tea was more than he could stand, having refused anything in London that they tried to pass off as coffee.
He barely had his hand on the doorknob before it flew open in front of him. There was Jack, a huge smile on his face, standing there in an old t-shirt and track bottoms, odd patches of colour dotted on his arms, and a bright slash of yellow across his nose. Jack seized him in kiss before he had a chance to think.
When he pulled back, Ianto got a closer look at the yellow stripe, adding it together with the other colourful splotches and the old clothes, coupled with a very distinctive smell.
'Have you been painting?'
'Uh huh. The rift has been quiet so I thought I'd try and fix the place up. We keep saying we've been meaning to repaint for months and never get around to it.'
'It's a big job,' Ianto said. 'I didn't mean for you to do it all alone.'
'Don't worry about it. It's been fun. Wanna come and see?'
Jack lead him through the hall by the hand until his eyes were assaulted by colour. The living room was a deep shade of teal, the kitchen and dining area a sunny yellow, their study pale blue. In the spare bedroom which was reserved for when they had David or Mica staying the night, was a bright lavender. But it was nothing compared to the lurid shade of red that dominated the walls of their own bedroom.
'What do you think?' Jack said, looking excited.
'It's, uh, very bright,' he replied, surveying the once white walls.
Jack seemed to sense the reticence in Ianto's demeanor. 'I thought red was your colour.'
'It is,' Ianto agreed. 'I just don't think our walls can survive that much red.'
'It's just one room,' Jack said.
'We couldn't have stuck to one colour? Perhaps not that one,' he said indicating the blood red tone.
'I was experimenting. In the end I just couldn't decide on a single colour. You don't like it?'
The crestfallen look on Jack's face made him feel ten kinds of guilty. Ianto hated that Jack had gone to so much trouble and that he couldn't readily approve. He meant well, but Jack's strengths lay elsewhere, not in interior decorating, or anything requiring colour coordination for that matter.
'It's not that I don't like it.' He had to admit, that where once he would have preferred the sterile cleanliness of bright white walls and neat monotone furnishings, he was now much more inclined towards warm, homely colours, rich timbers and an air of haphazardness in the arrangement of their furniture and knick knacks.
'Perhaps we could rethink those particular shades. They just need tweaking is all.'
'You're not mad?'
'Of course I'm not mad. A little tired from the trip, but coming home to a technicolour palace was not exactly what I was expecting.'
Jack sighed. His own enthusiasm for the task had taken over. Ianto was the practical one who kept him grounded. He admitted to himself maybe he should have done a bit of consultation before leaping in. It was very red.
'You always a were better at this stuff than me,' Jack confessed, realising that perhaps he had jumped the gun just a bit. 'I wanted to surprise you.'
'And you certainly did,' Ianto said, shaking his head but smiling despite himself. He wrapped an arm around Jack and pulled him close. He truly had missed him, and moments like this reminded him why he'd fallen for him in the first place. He was just so impossibly impossible.
'We can go down to the paint shop on the weekend and review their palette. I think a deep plum might suit our bedroom better. In the meantime why don't I run you a hot bath to wash off that paint? I could use one myself after the long trip back. '
'Oh, wait until you see the bathroom, then. I think the guy at the shop called it tangerine.'
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Date: 2016-09-26 06:04 am (UTC)Nooooooooooooooooo - not tangerine!
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Date: 2016-09-29 08:56 pm (UTC)I used to love orange, my bedroom door and window trims were painted that colour, but now I hate it. I think Ianto may need to repaint the bathroom too!
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Date: 2016-10-04 08:08 am (UTC)