m_findlow

Title: On the buses
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 579 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, stuck waiting for a bus/train/other mode of transport" at fic_promptly
Summary: Public transport just got a whole lot more appealing

Jack huffed, shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his long coat, leaning against the pole.

'This totally sucks,' he said to Ianto, perched on the metal seat just to his left.

'Well, maybe this will learn you for thrashing the SUV around so badly. I know it's built like a tank, but there's only so much one car can take.'

'I was perfectly gentle with it,' Jack argued.

'Until you tried to wrap it - and us - around a tree in Bute Park.'

Jack huffed again. 'Shouldn't have happened. It was the frost on the ground. It made the wheels slick.'

'Too late to worry about blaming Cardiff weather now,' Ianto replied, checking his watch. 'It's running late, but should be here in a few minutes,' he said.

'I can't believe this,' Jack said. 'We're a secret organisation protecting the world from alien invasion and here we are, waiting for a bus. Why couldn't we take your car?'

'It's in for a service. And not because the entire side paneling needs replacing. They're waiting to ship in a new fan belt. Yet another reason you should have been more careful. Besides, the signal came from Ciffynydd, and this bus route will take us directly there.'

'I hate the bus,' Jack moped.

'What's wrong with taking the bus?'

'It's all doddery old pensioners, uni students, teenage mothers with four screaming kids...'

'And grumpy, old, opinionated immortals,' Ianto added, grinning. 'They're the worst.'

Jack folded his arms again and slumped against the signpost. 'This is doing nothing for my image.'

'What image would that be?'

Jack didn't have a chance to reply as the bus pulled up at the stop with a squeak and a hiss, doors unfolding noisily, granting them access. Ianto climbed up the step and swiped his card against the reader, hearing the satisfying little beep.

Jack climbed up after him and paused. 'Ianto, I don't have one of those swipey card things.'

'That's fine, just pay for a single fare.'

He shoved a hand in his pockets rifling around, then tried the other pocket. 'No coins,' he said, when Ianto gave him the eye.

'Try your wallet,' Ianto suggested.

He pulled it out, revealing a fifty pound note and a few credit cards. Ianto rolled his eyes, and he wasn't the only one. Jack saw a few of his aforementioned passenger stereotypes giving him a similar reaction, as if to say "newbie travelling on the bus".

Ianto quickly paid for Jack's fare, the driver giving Jack an annoyed glare as he handed over the paper docket, before the bus pulled out, not waiting for them to take their seats, lurching them forwards along the aisle as if in revenge for holding them up for so long.

Ianto slid into the seat by the window, and Jack parked up next to him, letting the scenery go rushing by.

'See, this isn't so bad,' Ianto said, trying to cheer Jack up. 'It's clean, you don't have to deal with the traffic, and it won't take all that much longer than if we drove there ourselves. And it's much cheaper than a taxi.'

'Well, all I can say is that I hope whatever it is either fits in your pocket, or resembles a pensioner, else we're going to have a hell of a time trying to get it back home on the bus.'

'Well, if they let you on, I don't think they're all that fussy,' Ianto joked.