m_findlow

Title: Cooking up a storm
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack, Ianto
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Prompt 14 - Cookies at adventchallenge

'Ianto, are you making cookies again this Christmas?' Jack asked, leaning forward over their kitchen counter as he watched Ianto expertly slicing carrot.

'That depends,' he replied, knowing a bargaining chip when he heard one.

'But I've already promised the team you are.'

'Then you should learn not to count your chickens before they hatch,' he warned, sliding the carrot off the chopping board and into a bowl, starting on a capsicum.

'But you always make cookies! Asking you was just a formality.'

'You could always make them yourself,' Ianto offered. 'It's not as if you're not a dab hand in the kitchen. Maybe we should be taking turns each year.' He wouldn't mind a year off baking duties. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, merely that it required a certain amount of time, and time was the one thing that was never guaranteed when you lived on top of a rift in time and space.

'It's not the same,' Jack said.

'How is it not the same?' Ianto asked. 'If you follow the recipe, you can't possibly go wrong. They won't be any different to how I make them.'

Nope. It definitely wasn't the same thing. There was something else about Ianto's cookies that he just couldn't replicate, and gods knew he'd tried. They were just so buttery and delicious, with the right amount of cinnamon, and all that crystallised sugar on top. They literally melted in your mouth, and coupled with some of that amazing coffee, there really was nothing better.

'They just are,' Jack insisted.

Ianto set the knife down on the counter. 'Fine. I'll make them, but on one condition.'

'What's that?' Jack asked, prepared to accept any request Ianto made, his mouth already watering at the thought.

'We'll do them tonight, and you'll help.'

'So, date night is canceled then?'

'Not canceled. What did we have planned? Dinner and TV. Now it'll just be dinner and baking. It's still quality time together.'

'And cookies!'

'Yes, Jack. And cookies.'

After dinner they pulled out all of the mixing bowls, oven trays and ingredients, lining them up on the bench. Ianto read out the recipe instructions and Jack followed them, adding butter and sugar, vanilla essence, flour, baking powder and spices. Spending time together in the kitchen was actually quite nice. They should do this more often, Jack decided, pressing a fork into each ball of dough on the tray, letting Ianto sprinkle them with more sugar. Once they were in the oven, Ianto made a round of coffee and they sat there, sipping from their mugs as the smell of baking cookies filled the air.

Jack could hardly wait for them to cool as Ianto pulled them out, setting them on the rack to cool before they could be boxed up.

'I've figured out what that magic ingredient is that makes these taste so good,' Jack said, chewing on the remnants of one, and reaching for another.

'What's that?'

'Love. Love makes everything taste better.'