Torchwood: Fanfic: Afternoon for one

[m_findlow]

Title: Afternoon for one
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,257 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, Treating themselves even though they know they shouldn't" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack decides to treat himself, just this once.

Jack wasn't one who normally got out and about to treat himself to anything. In truth, unless it was work related, he really didn't get out all that much at all. It was a sad indictment that he had so little life outside of Torchwood, but then again, he'd been keeping a close watch over the rift for so long, he'd half forgotten what it was to not feel responsible , and just to let things be someone else's problem.

Every now and then though, he found himself at the end of a job, or having done as much as he could, and just happening to be out on the streets with nothing else to do but to return to the hub and find something new to occupy his time.

He had plenty on his plate back at the hub, but maybe just this once he could shirk his responsibilities, just for a few hours.

He spied the chocolate shop and pushed the door open. It was one of his favourite places in the city, indulging in their specially homemade wares. He had a terrible sweet tooth, but even he could appreciate the better quality stuff. He ambled along the shops walls, trying to decide on exactly what he should buy. It was an impossible choice, since everything looked amazing, and the shop assistants were keen to let him sample several. He finally settled on some chocolate pastilles laced with a very fine peppermint essence that melted in his mouth.

Bag of chocolate in hand, he stopped a few doors further down and parked himself at a table outside a busy cafe, ordering a pot of tea and two scones with jam and cream. Whilst he waited for the tea and scones to arrive he leaned back in the metal chair and just watched the people mill past along the busy plaza. People watching was something he'd always loved. People were just so endlessly unique in their permutations, from the way they dressed, to the way they talked, and the way they lived their lives. Some were punk rockers, some busy mums with a clutch full of kids and others were conservative lawyers or bankers. He couldn't imagine how they lived their lives in the occupations they chose for themselves, having only ever known his own life and the adventures he'd had, yet they seemed content in their unexciting existences, even happy. It made him slightly jealous. They lived such mundane lives some of them, yet they'd found happiness and contentment where Jack had travelled the length and breadth of the universe, still unable to grasp it for himself for more than a few fleeting moments. He supposed that was the difference between him and them. He had forever. Everything felt fleeting.

He poured the tea, watching as a few stray leaves snuck past the filter, swirling around in the deep amber before topping it with milk. He wasn't really a tea drinker anymore, not when he had Ianto making the most incredible coffee on earth, but every now and then it was nice to indulge in his other drink of choice. It was the scones he really wanted though, making sure to use up every last scraping of jam and cream on them, piling it obscenely high before biting down on the delectable combination. A tiny bit of cream dotted his nose and he swiped it off with a finger, adding that to his mouth as well. It wasn't pretty and Ianto would have been horrified, but it was less about the manners and more about simply enjoying them. He tended to miss the point. Life was there to be savored.

He downed the second scone quickly and followed it with more tea before easing back into the chair once more. Across the plaza he could see some of the city's buskers. The one that always fascinated him was the man painted all in silver, who stood there for hours at a time as a living statue. Never once had Jack seen him move a muscle and he'd stopped often to watch him for several minutes. What went on in the mind of a man like that, watching the world go past him as he stood there stock still? Did it not frustrate him, as the rest of the world kept going by, some of it not even noticing he was there, or was this just a job to him? No one ever spared him more than a cursory glance, a few minutes at most before carrying on as before. There was no point in hanging around. He certainly wasn't going anywhere. Jack was sorely tempted just to wait there all day until the man finally called it a day, eager to follow him home and see what kind of life he lead outside of the public eye. Jack could barely stay still for five minutes let alone five hours.

He cast an eye around the rest of the crowd, shoppers and tourists and people out for the day. How many had he retconned, and how many more had seen things they couldn't understand, and yet they still carried on as if there was nothing at all strange going on in their city. He supposed they were either oblivious to it, or like his team, had come to accept that Cardiff wasn't like other cities, but that so long as it didn't endanger their lives directly, it could do as it pleased. Torchwood would keep things in order for them.

He poured another cup from the teapot, still quite warm despite having sat there. That was the luxury of a pot of tea, and not having to share it. He probably should think about heading back, but no one had called him, and the rift was behaving itself. What was another twenty minutes? He bet the rest of them ran errands for themselves when they were out, or took just that little bit longer. It didn't bother him, they worked hard enough as it was. Only he ever seemed to deny himself the same treatment.

He pulled out the bag of chocolate and began nibbling on them. They melted even quicker than before, his mouth warmed from the tea, and the sweet minty flavour dancing on his tongue. His fellow café patrons were lost in their newspapers and mobile phones. A shame, he thought, buried in their own little worlds when everything was happening live all around them.

A young man walked past him, carrying a bag from H&M. Jack caught his eye for just a brief second, winking and watching as the man gave the tiniest of smiles and kept walking. Still got that old charm you handsome devil, Jack thought, grinning to himself and popping another chocolate in his mouth.

The bag was quickly devoured and he realised he'd done quite enough people watching for the day. He did still have responsibilities to attend to.

He passed by the chocolate shop on his way back to the car, buying another bag of peppermint pastilles and adding a bag of dark chocolate with orange, which was Ianto's favourite. After a brief moment of guilt, he added a bag of chocolate frogs. He supposed he shouldn't show favouritism, bringing something back for everyone.

Stepping back out into the autumn sunshine, it was a shame he could stay out playing hookey longer. Maybe if he just kept treating himself to little things like this every so often, it wouldn't make going back to work quite so bad.