m_findlow

Title: Dinner date
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 845 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 63 - Reservation at beattheblackdog
Summary: Jack is determined to do date night properly.

There was always a slight trepidation when Jack said he'd made arrangements for their date night. Usually, they never got past the first five minutes before the rift decided to have other ideas. Even on nights where they'd been allowed to divest responsibility to other members of the team, the rift decided to pull out all stops, making sure that whatever it threw at them, required the entire teams's attentions. It was almost as if the rift hated them.

Tonight though, Jack was assuring Ianto that all would be well and go ahead as planned.

'Do I have to be concerned about dressing up?' Ianto asked him. 'And by dressing up I mean having to wear something ridiculous.' He was thinking about the last umpteen dates Jack had organised; the seventies disco night, the tight leather pants night, and several other costumes which he would much rather forget.

'Hmm, come to think of it,' Jack said, 'I think dressing up would definitely suit the occasion.' He caught the look of cringing on Ianto's face and laughed. 'No, I mean, dress up nice. I've made us reservations somewhere special.'

'Huh,' Ianto replied, sounding skeptical.

'I promise, Ianto,' he said, trying to be reassuring. 'Nothing is going to go wrong tonight.'

Putting his faith in Jack, he went home and got ready, setting out neat black slacks, crisp white shirt and cashmere sweater. He laid his thick charcoal coat on the bed, prepared for whatever the weather threw at them. He was just splashing on a hint of cologne when Jack rang the doorbell. He shook his head at Jack's behaviour. It was his house too, but he loved being old fashioned, knocking on the door, standing there with flowers, trying his hardest to embarrass his lover.

He opened the door, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. True to form, there was Jack, red rose in hand, smiling stupidly.

'Hello,' Ianto greeted him, leaning forward for a kiss. It might be date night, but he'd be damned if he was going to wait until the end of the night.

'You look amazing,' Jack said, admiring the neat casual look. 'Shall we go?'

Ianto grabbed his coat and let Jack slip an arm through his elbow. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all.

The drive was a relatively short one, down along the bay until he pulled up out the front of St David's hotel, letting the valey take the keys whilst he lead Ianto inside. They'd talked about having dinner here for ages, but had never gotten around to it.

Jack stepped up to the front of the restaurant, greeted by the maitre de.

'Your reservation, sir?'

'Harkness,' Jack replied, wrapping an arm around Ianto's waist and giving it a squeeze, deliriously happy that they were finally having a nice night together.

The maitre de scanned the list and frowned. 'I'm afraid you're not on our list for tonight, sir.'

It was Jack's turn to frown. 'What do you mean? I booked this ages ago. Can you please check again?'

The maitre de checked his list twice, but still couldn't find Jack's name.

'I swear I booked it,' Jack said, feeling flustered. '27th September.'

They checked again and finally found Jack's reservation.

'I'm sorry sir, but your booking was for 22nd September, not the 27th.'

'Oh,' Jack said, sounding surprised. 'Well, I suppose mistakes happen,' he said, sure that the hotel had made the error and not him. 'Can you fit us in?'

'I'm afraid we're fully booked tonight, sir.'

Jack's face fell and Ianto felt awful for him. It didn't matter whose fault it was, only that he'd tried so hard to make tonight perfect, and as always, things conspired against them.

'Ianto, I'm so sorry,' Jack apologised. 'I don't know what to say.'

Ianto just gave him a brief smile and lead him back towards the reception desk. He pulled out his credit card and proceeded to book them a hotel suite.

'You know I don't really feel like a night in bed,' Jack said, despondent that things had gone so badly.

'Maybe you will after dinner,' Ianto said, pulling him towards the lift.

The room was very fancy and comfortable, with views of the bay and the city twinkling below them. He picked up a card from the bench and settled back on the end of the bed, pulling Jack down with him.

'Now, what was it you fancied for dinner?'

'Huh?'

Ianto grinned at him. 'The nice thing about room service here, is that they'll do anything off the restaurant menu. I was thinking of picking out a bottle of wine, but why don't I let you order the mains?'

'Well, why didn't you say so?' Jack said, tugging the menu excitedly out of his hand. 'If I'd known we could combine a three hat dinner with a five star hotel room, we'd have done this ages ago!' He grabbed Ianto's face and kissed him hard.

Oh, yes, Ianto thought. This was going to be a very good date night indeed.