BTBD Challenge 51 - In the stars

[m_findlow]

Title: In the stars
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 979 words
Content notes: Written for Challenge 51 - Glow at beattheblackdog
Summary: Jack and Ianto go stargazing on an alien world.

Ianto lay back and stared up at the sky. They hadn't done this for ages.

Back on earth, they'd done this all the time. They'd leave the hustle and bustle, bright lights, smog and noise of the city, and drive out to the hilly coal country of his homeland, trekking for miles to the top of the highest valley peaks for the best view. And what a view it was.

Being out in the open countryside was nothing like the city, where only the brightest of the stars could compete with the harsh lights of the city skyline. Out here, there were hundreds more stars, glittering and glowing in the night sky, and the longer he stared upward, the more they seemed to multiply, new stars being born out of nothing but darkness, until there were thousands of tiny specks of light dotted all across the sky. A billion trillion stars in the universe, and even here, he was seeing only the barest handful of them.

Staring up at them now, they felt more foreign and alien than anywhere or anything he'd ever seen in their travels. He was accustomed to looking at them and spotting the familiar constellations: Scorpius, Orion, Bootes, and Canis Major. Out here though, the stars were a jumbled map he couldn't read. Though some of the stars that made up the constituent parts of his known picture of the sky might still be visible and present, their placement in relation to other stars, both old and new, was completely different. It reminded him just how little he knew of the worlds that sat outside his own, and that everything he'd come to rely upon was based on a single point of reference.

Jack didn't have the same problem. He knew the stars and the various names of constellations that stretched themselves as they moved across the universe. Better yet, he could tell the stories that went with them, which was even more interesting to Ianto who absorbed information like a sponge.

Lying here now, Jack pointed out the Cross of Epsilon, Targas Bounty, Occulus and Sita Minor.

'That one there is Dargan's Spear,' he said, pointing to a row of seven stars sitting in a perfect line, as if someone had placed them there with purpose.

'Who was Dargan?'

'He was a shepherd. He carried a great long staff to help him traverse the fields whilst he tended his flock. One night a great serpent came upon the flock and ate them. When Dargan saw that the serpent was headed toward the village full of children, he hefted his staff and speared the serpent in two.'

Ianto nuzzled his cheek against Jack's arm. 'Dargan's Spear,' he said, committing it to memory.

'There's another reason why that constellation is special,' Jack said.

'What's that then?'

'See the third star from the bottom of the haft?'

'Bottom of the haft,' Ianto repeated, 'that's very technical, even for you.'

'Shush,' he said. 'Do you see it?'

Ianto counted up from the bottom of the line the streaked diagonally across the sky. 'Yup. What's so special about that one? Is that where you shagged nineteen virgins with tentacles, or something?'

He felt Jack chuckle beside him.

'Don't be silly. You have to go to the Vegas Galaxy for that sort of thing. Even then, you have to know the right people.'

'So what is it then?'

'That's where I met my first husband.'

'Oh,' he replied. Jack had lived a long time, and Ianto knew he'd married a couple of times; Estelle, Lucia, one or two others, but they'd all been women. This was the first he'd heard of Jack having married a man. It didn't really matter, he supposed. He was with Jack now. 'What was he like?'

He felt Jack squeeze his hand as they lay there, staring up at that one star amongst the millions.

'He was really something else. Funny and smart, kind, brave, and sexy as hell. He had these blue eyes that were just amazing, and hair so soft. He knew how to kick my arse when I deserved it, but otherwise he was the most devoted, incredible lover I've ever known.'

'He was mortal though,' Ianto said, filling in the gaps. Just like everyone Jack had ever known. Despite being here now, he felt rather inadequate in comparing himself to this supreme deity.

'He was,' Jack answered.

'Sounds like he was pretty special.'

'One in a billion trillion, just like that star.'

Ianto stared at it long and hard before his curiosity finally got the better of him. It shouldn't matter, but now it really did.

'What was his name?'

Jack grinned, even though Ianto couldn't see it. 'His name was Ianto.'

'Huh,' he said. Well, that was one hell of a coincidence. Then again, Jack had lived in Wales for a very long time. And Ianto was a pretty common name.

Jack turned his head sideways still grinning, staring at Ianto who was still staring skyward, waiting for the penny to drop. He squeezed Ianto's hand again to get his brain working.

'Wait a minute. Jack, how may husbands have you had?'

'Just the one.'

'But that's -, but I'm- wait, what? You said he was dead?'

'No. You asked me if he was mortal, and I said he was. I didn't say anything about what he is now.'

'You were talking about me?'

'Ianto, who else would I be talking about that could possibly be that amazing?'

'I'm the first?'

'And the last.'

'Huh,' he said again, lying back down, lost for words. 'Wait, so that makes the third star-'

'Yes,' Jack said, leaning over to kiss him. 'That's earth. The most important star in the whole universe.'

Looking up at it again, it seemed to suddenly glow brighter than before; brighter than every other star in the sky.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Awwww, silly Ianto, he took a while to catch on, I was way ahead of him, but then, Ianto tends towards modesty so he wouldn't assume that this wonderful, amazing man Jack was talking about could possiblybe himself.

[sagrario martínez castro (from livejournal.com)]

Absolutely beautiful!