Torchwood: Fanfic: Night call

[m_findlow]

Title: Night call
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 835 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, I just called to say I love you - Stevie Wonder" at fic_promptly
Summary: Someone's trying to ruin Ianto's night off

Ianto sunk down into the pillow and luxuriated in its softness. This was way better than that threadbare thing Jack called a pillow, or that shameful excuse for a bed. It wasn't even a cot worthy of the lowest military rank. Where he'd ever gotten it from was anyone's guess. Perhaps it was a child's bed. It was the only explanation for the size of it, really.

You couldn't compare the two, he thought, snuggling further under the duvet, stretching out his long legs, not because he needed to, but just because he could. Tonight there was no one else here, no one he had to play nice with, no one to steal blankets or kick him in the middle of the night, no one to snore in his ear, or mumble incoherently in their dreams, and no one just inches away from shoving him unceremoniously to the floor. Tonight the bed was all his. His bed, in his flat, and nobody to ruin this one night.

Sure, he missed Jack, and enjoyed much of Jack's company in bed, having someone to cuddle up to, but there was something just as enticing about one night of uninterrupted, comfortable sleep. He'd certainly earned it after weeks of night shifts, rift alerts and invasions that kept them working all through the night and into the next day, to the point where he could no longer tell one day from the next, nor what time it was. If he had a body clock anymore, the battery on it was well and truly dead.

He buried his cheek into the pillow, letting his eyes slip shut, noting how for once his toes were toasty warm, because for once the blankets actually reached his feet, and weren't entangled around someone else's. He thought unenviably about Owen and Jack sitting at the hub on night shift, Owen bouncing off the walls, and Jack trying not to do the same. Chances were that if it was a quiet night, they'd make their own trouble. They had a habit of getting on each other's nerves when there was naught else to do and no coffee to temper their moods. It was why Ianto had left a very large pile of tasks on both their desks, hopefully enough to occupy them. Satisfied that all was finally good in the world he let himself drift away into sleep.

The phone rang. No. No, no, no! He muttered a string of Welsh expletives. Why was the rift so cruel? He pulled off the covers and reached for his phone, nestling it between his ear and his shoulder, already reaching for his socks and pulling them on as he answered.

'Yep, I'll be there in ten,' he said, not even bothering with a greeting, and struggling to stifle the yawn that wanted to interrupt him.

'What? No, you don't have to come in,' Jack replied.

Huh? He was pulling on pants, fingers fumbling with the buttons. His sleep addled mind must have misheard. It sounded like Jack just said he didn't have to come in.

'What is it? Weevils? Something else?'

'It's nothing. I was just calling in general.'

Something in Ianto's brain finally snapped into place. He looked at the clock. 'Just calling in general? Jack, it's three in the morning!'

'Oh, is it?' he said, sounding a bit vague. 'I thought it was later, or earlier. I'm not really sure which. I just figured you'd be up.'

Ianto sat back down on the edge of the bed, half dressed. 'Why would I be up at three in the morning on my one night off?'

'I didn't know it was three am. I was bored. I was just calling to say I love you.'

'That's it?'

He heard the annoyed little huff on the other end of the phone. 'Isn't that enough? Did you want me to send flowers and chocolates as well?'

At three am in the morning, yes he did. Ianto slumped forward, rubbing a hand over his face. Why was Jack so bloody impossible? Only he could turn a declaration of love into a battle.

'Fine,' he sighed. 'I love you too, but can I please go back to sleep now? I'm going to have to be up again in two hours.'

'Oh, uh, of course,' Jack replied awkwardly, as if suddenly realising the gravity of what he'd done.

'Thank you,' Ianto said, hanging up, before flopping back on the bed. Two seconds later, his phone was ringing again.

'What?' he answered abruptly, not even bothering to sit up.

'I really do love you,' Jack said.

'And I'd really love it if you let me get some sleep,' he replied.

'Of course. I'll go now. Come in late if you like. We can handle things.'

'I'm so pleased. Try not to kill Owen, yeah? And vice versa. That pleasure is strictly mine.'

'Got it. Love you,' Jack said, before hanging up.

Ianto sighed. All this love was going to kill him one day.

Comments

[bk_forever]

I'm laughing my head off here! Poor Ianto, being loved by Jack is a strange and unpredictable experience! I hope he had a good lie in to make Jack pay for waking him in the middle of the night!

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Jack's love can be sometimes quite overbearing. He means well, but his enthusiasm is often misplaced.

[bk_forever]

Ianto still loves him, most of the time, but Jack needs to remember that other people have to sleep even if he doesn't.

[jo02]

' All this love was going to kill him one day... '

No truer words were spoken.

[imarajones.livejournal.com]

At least he can go late, and Jack loves him!

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Both are definitely pluses. Jack will just have to try and temper his enthusiasm when Ianto needs his beauty sleep. :)