m_findlow

Title: A fly in the soup
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 454 - Broken Zipper at slashthedrabble
Summary: Jack isn't having the nice night out at the restaurant that he'd planned.

It was meant to be a nice dinner out, but Jack couldn’t shake was the feeling that Ianto had other things on his mind.

It wasn’t that he’d been unattentive or disinterested, but Jack couldn’t help but notice the way that Ianto’s eyes drifted at random intervals. On one particular occasion he tried to follow Ianto’s line of sight. What shocked him was that it lead to a young and not unattractive waiter.

No, Jack thought, that was just coincidence, but the next time he caught Ianto’s gaze drifting, it was the same waiter wandering to another table. He wasn’t even their waiter, but for some reason Ianto couldn’t tear his eyes away.

It filled Jack with a jealousy that he couldn’t quell, but neither could he find voice enough to say anything. It just wasn’t like Ianto at all. He couldn’t recall Ianto ever having taken notice of anyone else. Jack did it all the time, but that was different. He wasn’t interested romantically, he just couldn’t help but admire a pretty face. Watching Ianto follow someone else hurt more than he could say.

‘Nice night,’ Jack murmured, forcing a smile across the table.

‘Definitely one of our better ones,’ Ianto agreed, though his eyes drifted once more as he said it. ‘Might just nip to the bathrooms,’ he said, standing up.

‘Okay.’ Jack watched Ianto float across the room, right in the direction of the handsome waiter. He was even more horrified when the waiter followed Ianto into the bathrooms. Jack felt sick.

When Ianto returned he sat down at smiled at Jack, as if everything was just perfect. Then their own waiter returned, bringing a large chocolate mousse in a martini glass and two spoons.

‘Did you order dessert?’ Ianto asked.

‘Nope.’

‘Compliments of the house,’ the waiter announced. Ianto turned around and there was the waiter giving him a cheeky wink and a smile.

‘Okay, what’s going on?’ Jack asked. ‘I know you didn’t just accidentally bump into that waiter on your way to the bathroom and that he just happened to follow you. You’ve been eyeing him off all night. Not that I don’t think he’s good looking, but I thought you and I were exclusive.’

Ianto laughed at him and dipped a spoon into the mousse, shaking his head as his impossibly jealous boyfriend.

‘The poor guy had his fly undone all night. I was trying to get his attention since it seemed no one else bothered to tell him. The whole thing was completely broken, but we managed to fix it. I’d say he was just very grateful, and a little embarrassed.’

‘Oh,’ Jack said, feeling foolish. He should have known Ianto would never cheat on him or flirt with other people.

‘Sorry. I should have mentioned it, but I didn’t think you’d take kindly to me telling you I dragged a man into a bathroom and made him take off his pants so I could get a better look at his crotch.’