m_findlow

Title: Timing is everything
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 10 - Reverse Fandom - Twilight Zone (A Kind of a Stopwatch) at ficlet_zone
Summary: Jack has the perfect present for Ianto.

'Ianto, would you please sit down?' Jack begged, watching as Ianto continued to potter around the ship, purportedly tidying up, though what he was tidying up Jack wasn't sure.

'I'm almost done,' Ianto insisted.

When he got close enough to the sofa, Jack made a grab for him, pulling him down. 'You're done. Honestly, I've never seen anyone try to avoid a birthday as much as you.'

'I'm not avoiding it,' he protested, letting Jack's arms snake around his waist. 'I just don't like to make a big fuss is all.'

'Well, I want to make a fuss,' Jack replied.

'What else is new?' Ianto quipped back, but leaning into Jack's touch all the same. If one person was allowed to make a fuss, it was Jack.

'Happy birthday, cariad,' Jack said, pulling out a small box. 'Now, before you get all uppity, remember that I asked you what you might like. You said you wanted something that was useful but not everyday.'

'And I apologise for having said that in the first place, making your job that much harder.' He sank further back into the sofa and into Jack. 'Useful and not everyday are kind of oxymorons. If you'd found anything that fit the bill, I'd have been thoroughly impressed.'

'Well, prepare to be impressed, Ianto Jones,' Jack said, grinning as he passed over the small box covered in mauve wrapping. 'I'd be happy to use it every day but I suppose it'd get old after a while. I'm sure you being creative will find other uses for it, though.'

Ianto carefully unwrapped the box and slipped off the lid. Inside was a round disc, larger than the largest coin, but smaller than a tangerine. 'What is it?'

'It's a stopwatch,' Jack replied. 'Or at least it's a kind of a stopwatch. A modern, alien version, as close as I could get to the real thing.'

Ianto turned it over in his hand, expecting that reverse side to have its timer dial, or maybe to find a tiny gap in the side where a fingernail could be slipped inside to pop open what must have been the outer casing.

'I know you lost your old stopwatch the day they blew up the hub,' Jack said, watching him scrutinise his new gift.

Ianto bowed his head at the memory. 'I shouldn't have taken it out of my pocket. It was only because I thought we were having some kind of a row. Figured we weren't going to need it that day, the way things were going. I left it on my desk. I wish I'd kept it.'

Jack shook his head. 'Doesn't matter. All of that is well in the past now. But I did want to replace the one you lost. Without going back to Earth, you don't know how hard it is to find one. I trawled any number of market stalls. You just never know what people are will to get rid of, and stuff from Earth doesn't usually trade for much more than a handful of credits, not even priceless jewels. I thought maybe this might make a good substitute.' He leaned over Ianto and rested a hand on his shoulder. 'It's got a neural interface so that it can automatically display everything in whatever native layout or design appeals to the user - digital, analogue, Galactic Standard, binary... Anything you like. And it's multifunctional, so you can get all kinds of data displays. The timer function is actually one of the most rudimentary functions. It can do a lot more than just count off seconds. Go ahead and give it a try.'

'What do I do?'

'Just hold it and think of what you want it to do and then press the side to start it.'

Ianto held it and felt it grow slightly warm in his palm. The brushed silver surface changed to a pale cream and little Roman numerals appeared around the edges, along with a timer hand. It looked just like the face from his old stopwatch. He tapped the side with his thumb and the hand started ticking around, keeping perfect time. He tapped it again and it stopped. For fun he made the appearance change to glowing blue digits, then made it show him local time and the weather forecast, which displayed in Welsh. 'No button on top,' he remarked. How many times had he made jokes about it all being about the button on top? Mostly it was to ruffle Owen's feathers, but there'd been plenty of double entendres aimed in Jack's direction. With Jack it was always about pressing just the right buttons, and the one on top of his stopwatch was always guaranteed to elicit a response.

'I know,' Jack said, squeezing him tighter. 'That was the only disappointing thing. They design them now so that you can press any part of the side to activate them. Buttons and knobs went out of fashion in the 2800s, but it does have the ability to affix a chain. There's a small port where one can be added. I wasn't sure if you wanted a chain.'

'My old one didn't have a chain and I never lost it. Easier to fit in your pocket that way.' He gave Jack a cheeky grin. 'Unless of course you're the type that likes to match it up with a nice vest and some aeroplane cufflinks.' He smirked. For all Jack's fifty-first century ways, Ianto loved him best for his timeless 1940's style. No one quite did old world charm like Jack. That smartly dressed, regimented soldier look drove Ianto crazy.

Jack hugged him closer, nuzzling his ear. 'Do you like it?'

'Jack, I love it. It's brilliant. Really. The most thoughtful birthday present ever. You think maybe we could, ah, give it a proper running in?'

Jack grinned. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since they'd played stopwatch games. 'I thought you'd never ask. A present for both of us.'