Torchwood: Fanfic: Adopted

[m_findlow]

Title: Adopted
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 869 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for oneill's prompt "Any, any, being adopted by a cat" at fic_promptly
Summary: It's hard to tell which of them was doing a favour for the other.

Ianto had taken in the cat as a favour to Jack. What else could he have done? The last person he expected to show up at his door that night had been Jack. Ianto felt for him, having lost a very long and dear friend, all on account of those horrible faeries. He hadn't been there at the time - hadn't even met Estelle - but whilst they had been out and about, he'd done a little searching of his own. Estelle Cole had been such a beautiful woman, and old age had not dimished the sparkle in her eye, nor her enthusiasm for life it seemed. That she and Jack should find kindred spirits in one another hardly surprised him. Jack seemed so much older than his years as well.

Jack looked pale and defeated, standing there in Ianto's doorway with the furry black creature bundled in his arms.

'His name is Moses,' Jack said. 'He was Estelle's.' With those few words, Ianto knew Jack had gone back there alone to grieve. Strictly speaking, cleaning up was Ianto's job, but he was going to leave it until the morning before deciding the best approach. Cleaning up scenes was one thing, but this was someone Jack had cared for very much. That put a different complexion on things.

It seemed strange to Ianto that Jack should think of him at this time. He still wasn't quite sure where they stood after everything that had happened with Lisa, though they did seem to be slowly on the mend, in his humble opinion.

'I thought you could use a friend,' Jack said.

It looks like you could use one, Ianto felt like saying.

Ianto took Moses into his arms, feeling the soft warm fur that had been tucked up against Jack. He didn't struggle, settling easily into the gentle grip. Ianto scratched his ear and he started purring at the gesture. Perhaps he didn't know that his former owner was never coming back yet. He'd always thought cats were remarkably perceptive. Maybe he did know, and he'd accepted that life simply moved on, whether you wanted it to or not. It was nice to have something living to hold on to.

'I should go,' Jack said, making his leave before Ianto could offer him a drink. Perhaps tonight he needed to be alone. Things might have been on the improve between them, but they were still a long way from confiding in one another.

As Jack left, he considered the furball in his arms. 'Just you and me now, hey buddy?'

Ianto thought he'd done Jack a favour, adopting the cat, but sometimes it felt more like it had adopted him. Now that he had someone to be responsible for, he had to stick to a much stricter schedule. Mornings were easy since he just added feeding Moses to his usual routine, but now he had to make sure that he got home at night as well. Sometimes late nights were unavoidable, and when he did arrive home, Moses very loudly voiced his displeasure at being abandoned. Despite the chastisement, it was nice having someone to come home to.

In fact, he was quite vocal all of the time. Ianto found himself regularly conversing with his feline flatmate, asking his opinion on all manner of things, or telling him about his day. Perhaps Jack had known all along that bringing him here would force Ianto back into some sort of normal routine: get up, got to work, go home, go to bed. He'd stopped Ianto from staying at the hub until all hours of the night, sleeping on his desk, just to avoid going home where he'd be alone with his thoughts. Then again, perhaps he was giving Jack too much credit. Perhaps he just couldn't bear to think of any remaining part of Estelle 's life in the hands of some complete stranger. He knew Ianto, and he knew that Ianto would care for Moses above and beyond.

Some nights it seemed more like Moses was looking after him. When he got the urge to get up and do something that didn't need doing on a Saturday morning, Moses would clamber into his lap and curl up there. It was as if he could sense Ianto wanting to get up and go to work. Ianto could have dislodged his charge, but there was a firmness with which Moses made himself comfortable, juts daring Ianto to try and move him.

'I swear it's important,' he said. 'I'll only be a few hours, promise.' There'd be plenty of time for scratches and cuddles later.

Mrow! That translated distinctly into a no.

'You're worse than my mother. Have you met her?'

Mrow.

'What if I bring back some treats?' He didn't really have anything in particular he had to do at work, but nor did he feel like leaving Jack there to rattle around the place on his own. Maybe he should get a cat as well. Then again, he pictured Jack as more of a dog person.

'I can't help but feel I've been set up by you two,' he said, looking down at the black and white monstrosity that had taken charge of his life. 'My boss at home and my boss at work.'

Mrow.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Moses is a very sensible cat; he'll take good care of Ianto.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

They'll do a good job of looking after each other and keeping one another sane.