Torchwood: Fanfic: Down the gurgler

[m_findlow]

Title: Down the gurgler
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,109 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Juliet316's prompt "Any, any, stuck in place" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack's lost something valuable

Had he not just finished the rather large crescendo of his morning bathroom ritual - this week it was Michael Buble - he might not have heard the tiny clink. He turned around just in time to see what he'd knocked off the side of the counter, tumbling into the bath, before spinning around the edge of the plug hole.

'Oh, no,' he panicked, scrambling for it, but a split second too late as it fell through the gap and down the hole.

'No, no, no,' he cursed, trying to look down the darkened hole for the tiny item, seeing only blackness.

Ianto would kill him if he lost it. In fact, he'd kill himself if he lost it. His wedding ring was the most important and priceless thing he owned, well, apart from the man he was married to. He had to get it back before anyone else used the water, sending it further down into the pipes where it might be lost forever.

He quickly jimmied off the metal plug cover, leaving the hole free for him to stick his hand down into it to retrieve his ring. It took a bit of wriggling, but finally he managed to get his hand far enough in, scrabbling about with blind fingers, seeking out the small metal ring. All he could feel was the slimy bottom of the pipe. Maybe it had slipped further down. He shoved his hand in deeper, bending it awkwardly sideways, until his middle finger felt something smooth and round.

'Ah ha, gotcha,' he delighted, curling his finger around it to draw it back up, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.

He pulled upwards, but his hand only went so far before it became stuck. Uh oh.

Jack tugged harder. 'Come on,' he pleaded, pulling again.

He could fix this, he was sure of it. He tugged and yanked, but his wrist was now firmly wedged inside the plug hole. All the while, he kept his finger tightly wrapped around his ring. He'd be damned if he'd lose it again. He tried reaching up for the soap dish on the basin counter, but with one hand lodged in the bath, he couldn't stretch far enough to reach. He yanked again, but if anything, it only seemed to force the opening tighter around his hand, becoming sore and chafed. Oh hell. Like it or not, he was going to have to call for help.

Jack called Ianto's name, and heard the familiar footsteps padding down their hallway. He was already dressed, coffee in hand, waiting for Jack to join him at the breakfast table.

'Come on, Jack. We don't have time for bathroom sex this morning,' he said, seeing Jack's naked form sprawled on the floor of the bathroom. Jack often played dirty to get what he wanted, and wasn't above being a shameless tease to get it. 'We've got a to do list as long as my arm, and that's assuming that the rift doesn't have other ideas.'

He turned on his heel and was already halfway back to the kitchen when Jack called out again, more insistently this time.

'Jack, I told you. Stop mucking about and get dressed.'

'I'm stuck,' he said.

'What do you mean, you're stuck?'

Jack moved his body slightly, so that Ianto could see where his wrist disappeared down the plug hole of their very tall, spacious bath.

Ianto let out a vexed sigh. 'Should I even bother asking why?'

'My ring fell in. I was trying to retrieve it.'

Ianto wanted to face the wall and bang his head against it repeatedly.

'If there's a right way of doing things, and a wrong way of doing things, how is it that you always come up with the Jack way of doing things, which is even worse than the wrong way?'

'Just gifted, I suppose,' Jack replied sheepishly.

Ianto grabbed Jack's other hand and held it up.

'Now I want you to look at this,' he said.

'Why?' Jack asked.

'Just humour me. Now look at the plug hole. What do you notice about these two things that's different?'

'They're not the same size?' Jack hazarded a guess.

'Very good. Which begs the question of what made you think you could stick your hand in there, although I know when it comes to you, the answer is usually long and complicated. I'm tempted to just leave you here to wallow in your own stupidity for a while.'

'Please don't be mad,' Jack whined. 'It's really starting to hurt now.'

Ianto rolled his eyes and left, before returning a minute later with the bottle of olive oil from their kitchen pantry.

'I thought you'd use lube,' Jack said.

'Trust me, this will work much better.'

He stepped over the side of the bath and crouched down by Jack's hand, slowly drizzling the oil around the edge of the hole and Jack's hand, until both were slick and slippery. Using both of his own hands, he gently twisted, trying to loosen it.

'Stop making a fist. It's only making it harder to get out.'

'I'm not letting go of my ring,' Jack said, giving Ianto a determined look.

'You don't do anything by halves, do you?' he grunted, finding it hard to ease Jack's hand out any further.

'I'm an "all or nothing" kinda guy,' Jack replied.

Finally, with a bit more oil and a lot more tugging, Ianto was able to slip Jack's hand free, and Jack clutched his ring victoriously. Ianto took it off him before his slippery fingers could drop it again.

'Ow, ow, ow,' Jack cringed, holding his injured hand protectively.

Ianto checked it over, confirming it was just battered, but no broken bones or sprains.

Ianto held his sore hand under a stream of hot soapy water, gently washing off the oil and massaging the red, chafed areas in a tender motion with his long fingers. Then he gently dried it with the hand towel before holding out Jack's hand to slip the ring back on his finger where it belonged, just the same as he'd done on their wedding day, feeling a slight buzz of happiness at getting to do it again, despite the circumstances.

'With this ring, I thee wed,' he teased, watching the little smile quirk on Jack's lips. He skipped over the rest of the details, reaching up for Jack's face and going in for the kiss at the end that sealed their bond. His vows had included for better or worse. He supposed that if this was a bad as things got, he was pretty sure he could live with it.

Comments

[too-beauty.livejournal.com]

Awwww loved it. Wedding rings are special. I still curse the man who stole mine

[too-beauty.livejournal.com]

Awwww loved it. Wedding rings are special. I still curse the man who stole mine

[bk_forever]

Awwwwww! Thart's so adorable, the lengths Jack will go to in order to rescue his precious wedding ring! I think Ianto needs to get something for the bathroom for Jack to put his ring in safely during his morning ablutions!

Jack always does things the Jack way, which is usually a way nobody else would attempt.