Fffc Regular Challenge r18.15 - Lust for knowledge

[m_findlow]

Title: Lust for knowledge
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,036 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge r18.15 - Insatiable at fffc
Summary: The archives have created an insatiable list for knowledge.

'You don’t have to hide down here, you know,' Jack said, coming to lean against the open doorway.  

The sudden voice behind him almost made Ianto jump in surprise. He really should be used to it by now; Jack coming down here was beginning to be a habit, one he was certain Jack hadn't maintained prior to his self appointed command of all things archival.

'I’m not hiding,' Ianto replied. 'I'm working.'

Jack shoved his hands into his deep trouser pockets. 'Well, you don’t have to work down here forever, then,' he said, poking at a crate full of dusty old files with an air of disdain. 'God knows I think you've suffered enough. You don’t have to punish yourself with this.'

Ianto held back the little scoff. Yes, not everyone hated him anymore. They certainly wouldn't do it openly, especially not when their supply of caffeine was on the line. 'It’s not punishment. I enjoy it.'

Jack gave him a look of incredulity. 'You enjoy musty old paperwork and junk?' Jack pushed back from his slumped position against the wall. 'Do I need to have Owen check you over for alien influence?'

'It’s fascinating,' Ianto  insisted.

'Filing is fascinating?'

'Well, not exactly, but the stuff in those files is much more interesting.'

He didn’t like to admit it, but sometimes being down here was more fun than whatever was going on upstairs. He’d gotten a taste of it at Torchwood One, being relegated to their old archives to sort them out. No one else wanted the job, and he was the lowest underling they could find to foist the unpleasant task upon. He wasn't meant to be reading the files, since it all well above his security clearance level, but no one had stopped him. And to be perfectly honest, he didn’t think anyone even cared. Plus, he had to make sure he was putting things in their rightful place, and the little labels and codes on the front of the files didn't give him much to go on. If he'd thought hat was bad, it was nothing compared to the task that confronted him in Cardiff. If there was a system here for filing stuff away, it was either very cleverly devised, to the extent that it was too complicated for humans to understand, or it was just plain old chaos.

He'd always been a bit of a bookworm, but this stuff was better than any science fiction novel. If anything, it only drove him to spend more time down here, uncovering the multitude of things hidden in the dark. Nothing ever looked like what it was. What passed for obvious on Earth was completely foreign to most parts of the universe, apparently. Some were fully written up with reports of what they  did and how they worked. Others were a total mystery, having confounded the Torchwood officers that had found them, and shelved out of frustration for their refusal to reveal their secrets.

Once he'd begun unravelling the endless myriad of boxed and crates, filing cabinets and drawers, there was almost no stopping him. He needed something to do now that he no longer had someone who needed his care twenty-four, seven, and so the mysteries of the archives became an insatiable hunger. There was always more to find, and he’d barely scratched the surface of what was down here. Putting it all in order was as good an excuse as any to spend as much time down here as possible. Perhaps it was an unhealthy obsession, but everyone else upstairs had their projects that they worked on and this was his. If he was deriving a side benefit from it, then that was just a bonus.

He could see Jack, watching him with a concerned expression in his face.  

'I’m fine down here, really,' he assured Jack. 'I’m not hiding and I’m not torturing myself with long hours just to fill in the days. I really do like my job.'

'You’re sure? I can always wrangle us a weevil chase or something. You only have to say so.'

Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Jack didn’t like his paperwork at the best of times, and he'd never been the anal retentive sort that worried about whether things were put back where they'd come from. So long as he could put a hand to them when he needed them, that was enough. He hadn't yet figured out that the reason he could get to them when he needed them, was because Ianto had made it so. Keeping Jack in order was a whole other skill set.

Most of the time, Ianto couldn’t wait to get down here. The politics and the sometimes foul moods of his colleagues he could leave behind. Sure, there was a frustration sometimes in not being able to find things, not left in the last place someone might have noted them being located or a complete lack of any system whatsoever, but that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm one bit.

Upstairs he could picture what would be happening. Jack would be explaining their latest rift find to a captive audience, lording his expertise over the rest of them and telling them outlandish stories that would have them hanging onto his every word, whether they bore any relation to the truth or not. He didn’t need their flashy captain to show him the marvels of the universe. The archives were a treasure trove of wonders and mysteries all of their own, and he could unravel them in his own quiet and understated way.

Ianto gave Jack his most reassuring smile. 'I’m fine, sir, really. But thank you for coming down here to check on me.'

Jack shuffled from one foot to the other, hands awkwardly fidgeting in his pockets. 'Well, I didn’t exactly come down here to check on you, per se. I mean, everyone else upstairs is busy and I figured no one would notice if I was gone for a while...'

Ah. It seemed Ianto wasn’t the only one who had an insatiable appetite for the things that lived down in the archives, though Ianto knew it wasn't mysteries Jack intended on unravelling down here.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Looks like Ianto work is about to be interrupted.

The archives are Ianto's happy place. There must be some really fascinating things down there, I'm not surprised he enjoys working down there so much.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Putting things in their rightful order makes some people very happy and satisfied. Some people however get their kicks from creating chaos and disorder, and Jack is only interested in one thing that lives down in the archives.