m_findlow

Title: Technological marvels
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 927 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Regular Challenge r18.06 - Mystify at fffc
Summary: Sometimes even the twenty-first century can be mystifying to the man of the future.

'What's that?' Jack asked as Ianto was busy tugging his latest purchase out of its box, setting it on the kitchen counter. He loved it when Ianto went shopping, often coming home with presents. This one looked particularly interesting, since there were other bags that seemed to accompany the box itself.

'What does it look like?' Ianto said, untying the power cord and stretching it out, before plugging it in.

'I dunno,' Jack replied. 'That's why I'm asking.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'It's what it says on the box. It's a bread maker.'

'A bread maker?' Jack bounced over and took a closer look. 'Looks like a really badly designed steamer basket,' he said, seeing the rather boring looking square device up close.

'It's a little more complex than that,' Ianto said, rifling through another bag and pulling out a large bag of premixed flour. He studied the instructions on the side of the bag for quantities, before opening the drawer door pulling out the measuring cups and scooping out the required amount.

'So it's just an electric mixer, basically,' Jack said, toying with the little paddle inside the machine. 'You still have to bake it and stuff.'

'No. It does everything.'

Jack frowned, staring down at the machine like it was alien. 'But... how does it make bread?'

'Well, basically, you just add the bread mix in here with some water, close the lid and a few hours later you have a freshly baked loaf.'

'What, so it mixes it, kneads it and cooks it all in the one little box?'

'Yep.'

'Wow! So, it's like a medieval fabricator! I mean, not a proper fabricator since you're still adding constituent materials, but it makes something out of almost nothing.'

Ianto sighed. It was hard to imagine sometimes that Jack was from the far off future, given his propensity to marvel at the most fundamental of things. 'You make us sound so backwards and primitive.'

'Sorry, but it's just so... I had no idea you guys had tech like this in the twenty-first century.'

'Twentieth,' Ianto corrected him. It was easy to take offense to being considered a cave man in the twenty-first century. Apart from space travel and a few medical advancements, how much more technologically progressed could the future really be?

'Twentieth, twenty-first,' Jack sighed. 'It's splitting hairs. One of these days I'm gonna take you to see the fifty- first century and it's gonna blow you away.'

'My prehistoric little brain will collapse in on itself,' Ianto replied.

'So, any more technological wonders I should know about?' Jack asked.

'Well, wait until I tell you about this giant box we have plugged into the wall that keeps stuff cold, and another box that plugs into the wall that heats stuff up. And then there's this other box plugged into the wall that...'

'Okay, Mr funny man,' Jack said, grabbing him around the waist and squeezing him playfully. 'I get it. I know what a fridge and a microwave are. Nobody I ever met in this time line ever owned a bread maker though, so the concept is new to me.'

'So much for being a well-travelled and knowledgeable Time Agent. However did you survive?'

'Hey. I still know way more stuff about stuff than you do,' he protested.

'As evidenced right here in our kitchen,' Ianto replied deadpan.

Jack looked at the machine in wonderment again. 'It really makes bread all on its own, without any interference?'

'Yes, Jack.'

'Why are we only getting one of these now? I love fresh baked bread.'

'I know. Why do you think I bought it? Half the time we don't even have time to go to the shops for basic foods. At least with this here we'll have bread if nothing else.'

'Can it make bread like that fancy sourdough toast we have at that little cafe near the bay?'

'If I buy the right flour mix,' Ianto qualified. 'It also has a timer setting, so you can put the mix in before you go to bed, but it won't start up until the middle of the night, so that you wake up to hot bread ready to come out.'

'That's awesome!'

Ianto was quietly pleased that he'd brought so much joy into Jack's life. As if it hadn't been interesting enough before, and now he'd just added the wonders of the modern bread maker into the mix. 'So, I'm guessing there's no bread makers in the fifty-first century?'

'There's not a lot of bread, either,' Jack replied. 'Donuts don't even exist anymore, can you believe it? A future without donuts! Makes you wonder how progressive the future really is.'

'It also explains why you keep crossing over your own timeline trying to hang around this time,' Ianto teased.

'It's not all about the donuts. I have other things keeping me here,' he replied, tugging Ianto close again.

'I'm so pleased to hear that.' He was hoping for a kiss, but Jack was too busy peering over his shoulder at the machine. Amazing how such an ordinary appliance could completely mystify his futuristic lover so much.

'It has a glass lid, so you can stay and watch it if you like. Mind you, it'll take a break in between to let the dough rise.' He assumed Jack would be bored after about five minutes, just like everything else, but the offer still stood.

'Cool!' he said, plonking himself down on the kitchen stool. 'Can I get a coffee while I watch? I could be here a while.'