m_findlow

Title: Pick of the bunch
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,509 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for sidonie's prompt "Any, any, harvest" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack takes Ianto grocery shopping, intergalactic style.

When Jack said that they were stopping off to pick up some fresh fruit, this wasn't what Ianto expected.

'I think you landed on the wrong side of the planet, Jack. There's not a store or market stall in sight.'

'We're not going to a market. We're picking it ourselves.'

They'd been travelling for a long time, and their supplies had been down to whatever could be kept long term, which mean that most of their supplies of fruit and vegetables were of the frozen or canned variety. Jack had promised him that as soon as they were in range of somewhere that sold fresh produce, they'd make a point of stopping. 'Can't go have you getting scurvy on me,' Jack joked.

'That's a thing?' Ianto asked. 'I thought scurvy was for sailors in the eighteen hundreds.'

'It's a lack of vitamin C, which is basically lack of fruit and veg. Happens in space too if you don't provision yourself properly.'

'And there wasn't a supermarket the next planet across?'

'They don't have supermarkets in space. Not many places, anyway. Everything is self serve.'

'People keep telling me how much of backward planet Earth is, but now you're telling me that half the universe hasn't even grasped the concept of mass production.'

Jack smiled at his lover. 'It's not so much that they haven't grasped it, as it is that they've tried it and it doesn't work.'

'Works just fine as far as I've seen,' Ianto replied.

Jack simply began walking, forcing Ianto to follow after him. 'Think about it, Ianto. The farmer has to spend thousands and thousand of dollars buying huge harvesting equipment. Then he has to run through quality checks, packing, and shipping them off to the next company, who will spend thousand and thousands of dollars on grading the fruit, washing it, and repacking it into more boxes before it finally gets to the supermarket. And does the fruit taste any better for all that money spent getting there? Here, you come and pick it yourself, decide what size fruit you want, how much, and it doesn't cost the farmer a cent. He gets one hundred percent of the value for his produce instead of getting swindled by all these other companies who strip all the profit out of it.'

It all made quite good sense when you looked at it like that, Ianto realised. It was no secret that farmers did it tough. One bad turn of weather, or an infestation of bugs and a whole season's crop could be rendered worthless. Or the supermarket might get fussy, refusing to buy them because they were too small or too big, or not the right colour or shape. Perhaps they had overthought the process, making it more complicated than it had to be. After all, Jack was from three thousand years in Ianto's future, and he'd grown up in a place that had almost no technology at all. If nothing else, at least this would be an experience. He'd never picked his own fruit, let alone done it on an alien world.

They walked about a mile from where they'd left their ship, until a small barn style building came into view, and beyond it lay an enormous grove of fruit trees. The barn looked abandoned, but as they got closer, Ianto could see that it was just lacking in people, but that there were piles and piles of baskets along one side of the barn, ready for people to just help themselves.

'Where's everyone else?' he asked.

'We're early,' Jack said. 'Most people won't arrive for at least another hour.' He took Ianto's hand and lead him on a wander through the grove whilst they waited.

Ianto looked around them, noticing that the two suns were already dipping low towards the horizon. 'Won't it be too dark to pick fruit, then?'

'Nope. The hour just after dusk is the best time to pick. These fruit absorb some of the sun's radiation, which causes them to glow.'

'We're buying glow in the dark fruit?' What on earth would that do inside the stomach, he wondered.

Jack laughed. 'It doesn't glow in the dark; it dissipates pretty quick.'

'And why is it best to pick them when they glow?' He prayed Jack wasn't about to say something about them being an aphrodisiac.

The glowing tells you what kind of fruit you're getting. He reached up and plucked one off the tree for Ianto to get a better look at. It looked pretty ordinary to him, just a waxy peach coloured fruit. 'The sweetest ones glow purple, but the juiciest ones are more pink. Right now, there's no way of knowing which it is.' He took a bite, tiny fleck of juice splattering his chin as he broke the skin with his teeth. 'That's a sweet one,' he said, passing it across for Ianto to try.

He took a much smaller bite than Jack, but the explosion of sugary sweetness danced on his tongue and made him tingle all over. It was unlike any fruit he'd ever tasted.

They walked for a little while longer, just enjoying the serenity of the place as the dusk fell and all around them the trees began to glow in hues from deepest magenta through to electric purple. It was like being in a forest full of Christmas trees, Ianto thought, admiring the way they lit up, casting a purplish glow all around. As they headed back towards the barn, they passed several people already making their way through the trees, baskets laden with fruit and others waiting to be filled. By the time they reached the barn there were hundreds of people there. He'd expected a few dozen pickers but people were coming in their droves, taking a basket in each arm before going off to collect their fruit.

They collected their own baskets and headed back into the mass of trees, walking further and further to reach the less popular spots. All along the way people were busy picking fruit, and the sound of laughter and song filled the air as they picked. Everyone here was so cheery and it was almost as if a sweetness hung in the air, making him drowsy and happy. Most picked only what they could reach, either on tip toe or with the help of small crates that were dotted about the place to give extra height. Some more ambitious people however had climbed the trees, sitting up amongst the branches to reach the fruit right at the top, which glowed most brightly, sweeter and juicier than the lower hanging fruit. Most though had bright purple mouths from sampling the fruit as they picked.

'Sweet fruit or juicy?' Jack asked, setting down their baskets underneath a fine specimen, his face cast in a purple light.

He wasn't sure. He picked a deep purple one and tried it, knowing what sweet was like, but curious about juicy. He wasn't disappointed as it burst, spilling mauve juice down his chin and over his hand. It was messy but it tasted divine. Torn between the two alternatives, he suggested an equal amount of both.

They set to work, inspecting the tree for the brightest fruit, plucking them and dropping them gently into the baskets hanging from the crook of their arms. Jack took to climbing up higher, determined to reach the very top fruit. Ianto satisfied himself with what he could reach, until his basket was overflowing, finally settling under the tree and taking one out to eat whilst Jack finished.

From a short distance away, the singing of a whole group of aliens filtered through the warm air, their song high pitched and sweet, a melody that threatened to send him off to sleep. It was only Jack's boots coming to plonk down beside him that stopped him.

'You were supposed to pick the fruit, not eat it all,' Ianto said, seeing the way Jack's face was covered in pink and purple patches, with more on his hands and dribbles down his shirt. Jack sat down next to him and leaned across to kiss him, letting him taste the sweetest fruit for himself. He'd eaten a few whilst waiting for Jack, but the fruit from Jack's mouth tasted even better.

They sat there for a while longer, listening to the music, drifting in and out of their dozy state, partly on account of the fruit and partly the music, before getting back up to return to the barn and pay for their fruit. It was getting quite late now, and as the darkness of night settled in the fruit on the trees began to dim, providing only the smallest glow to guide them back. Most other people had already left meaning they were quickly able to weigh and pay for their baskets without having to queue.

'Still think it's better buying stuff at the supermarket?' Jack asked.

Not a chance, Ianto thought. Sure, it took a whole lot longer, but it was definitely worth it.