m_findlow

Title: Luck on your side
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto/Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 480 - Shamrock at slashthedrabble
Summary: A little luck never hurts.

Jack lounged on his stomach in the hammock that hung in their backyard, enjoying the summer afternoon sunshine. The trees were providing just enough dappled shade to take the edge off the sun's heat. Not that he minded the heat, he'd grown up on a planet where it bore down mercilessly all day every day, but his British counterparts would struggle to cope. Even he had to admit he'd acclimatized quite considerably to cooler climes. Off to his side, Ianto was engrossed in a book, seated at the small table and chairs on the lawn, a long glass of iced tea being nursed as he read. Days off like this were priceless.

Jack leaned his head over the edge of the hammock, letting his arm dangle over the side. His fingertips were close enough to graze against the cool green grass underneath him. Ianto said the reason for hanging the hammock so low was because the trees weren’t big enough or strong enough to hang it higher up on their trunks, however Jack suspected that it had more to do with mitigating the risk of serious injury if either of them fell out of it, which had on occasion, been known to happen, especially if they tried to share it. Today he had it all to himself.

Jack toyed with the soft greenness of their lawn. As he stared at it, he could begin to see the individual leaves that made up the sea of green. In between them he could see little streams of ants, busily making their way somewhere. He fixated on one carrying a large crumb of something. It was almost as big as he was. Jack wondered what it must be like to be able to carry a piece of food as big as your own body, imagining a human-sized donut.

As his eyes followed the ant until it disappeared into a sandy little mound, he spied something else. He carefully reached down and plucked it out.

'Hey, Ianto! I found a shamrock.'

'Our lawn is full of clover,' he replied, not even looking up from his book.

'Yeah, but this is a four leaf clover. They’re lucky.'

'Then it’s not a shamrock,' Ianto replied. 'They only have three leaves.'

'So, why is a four leaf clover so synonymous with good luck and Ireland and St Patrick’s Day and everything?'

'Probably just one of those things that no one remembers where it all started.'

'Kind of like dragons and Wales?' Jack surmised.

'That’s completely different. In 1400, Owain Glyndwr...'

'Yeah, yeah, I get it. You know everything,' Jack said, not wanting another lecture on Welsh history. He turned over in the hammock and held up the clover for closer examination. 'I still think it’s lucky.'

Ianto snorted. 'What do you need luck for?'

Jack smiled despite himself. He did have things pretty good, and he had Ianto. He twirled it around in his fingers, a blur of green. Still, it never hurt to hedge your bets.