m_findlow

Title: Between the sheets
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Ianto, Jack, Rhiannon
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: G
Notes: Written for Challenge 4 - Hump at anythingdrabble
Summary: Ianto has more than a hot water bottle keeping him toasty.

If the thumping footsteps coming down the hall didn't wake him, the rapping of knuckles on the door certainly did.

'Ianto?' The sound of his sister's voice ran through him like ice through his veins, dulled only by the warmth of the arms currently wrapped around him.

Fuck! he thought. Jack shouldn't be here! He should have been gone hours ago. They must have slept over the alarm clock, or perhaps Jack had turned it off altogether and forgotten.

Next to him, Jack murmured and squeezed him tighter, still half asleep. That man could sleep through a nuclear holocaust. Right now though, the only nuclear thing he had to concern himself with was what his sister would do if she found Jack in here.

He shouldn't have let it happen. Really, really shouldn't have. Jack and his sister were equal parts complicit in his current situation. Jack had sent him home to rest after contracting an alien malady that left him achy and exhausted. At the same time, his sister had rung, insisting he come over for tea. As soon as she heard the weariness in his voice, she'd packed up and come over, determined to stay and care for him.

'Who else is going to look after you, you great idiot?' she chastised. Who indeed?

Jack had slipped silently into the flat sometime late in the night, long after Rhiannon had gone to bed on the sofa.

'You shouldn't be here,' Ianto had whispered. 'My sister is sleeping in the other room.'

'I know,' Jack said, almost pleased with himself. 'She snores worse than you do.'

Ianto tried half-heartedly to get Jack to leave, but he didn't have the energy to fight it.

'I'll be gone before she wakes up,' Jack promised. So much for that idea.

'Ianto, d'you want me to make you some eggs?'

'No, thanks,' he replied through the door, poking Jack awake and slapping a hand over his mouth before he complained.

'You sure, love? You really should eat something. I can make toast. Plain buttered, just how you like.'

'Okay,' he quickly said, hoping it would be enough to make her leave. At the same time, he hissed at Jack to keep quiet, hastily throwing the covers over him.

'Ianto,' Rhiannon said, gently pushing open the door. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

'Fine. Just tired.'

She inspected the room, noticing the large hump in the bed where the duvet was scrunched up next to him. She looked at him quizzically.

'I got hot in the night,' he said.

'Alright,' she said slowly, still eyeing the pile. 'Well, I'm taking you to the doctor later. I know you said you didn't want to, but we're going. No arguments.'

Ianto struggled to hold his plaintive expression in place, feeling Jack reach under the covers to stroke his leg. Rotten git was actually enjoying this! If they didn't get caught...

'Tea,' he replied.

'What?'

'With the toast.'

She huffed, turning away. 'Cheeky bloody thing you are, sometimes.'