m_findlow

Title: Private viewing
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Rhys, Gwen
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 821 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for anonymous prompt "Any, any, secretly terrified of jellyfish" at fic_promptly
Summary: You have to put up with a lot when your wife works for Torchwood.

Rhys didn't have to feel Gwen crawl into their bed. She'd made enough noise to wake him completely, despite his best efforts to ignore it.

'Late again,' he muttered as she pulled the cover back, letting out all the warm air.

'I know. I'm sorry,' she said, leaning over his shoulder and giving him a kiss.

'I have to go back to work tomorrow, is it?' Rhys asked. 'World isn't ending tonight after all?'

She smiled and hugged him tight against her. 'Not tonight, sweetheart. Quiet by all respects.'

'Quiet?' Rhys turned over in the bed to face her. 'Quiet and you still couldn't manage to come home on time?'

'Well, quiet as in the rift had nothing to do with it.'

'Nothing to do with what?'

Gwen paused. Despite the dark, Rhys could tell she was pulling that face she made when she was trying to think how to phrase her next words. 'Just don't use the bath tomorrow,' she said.

'Eh? Why's that?'

'Jack's in there,' she replied.

Rhys sat up on his elbow. 'Hang on, did you just say Jack's in our bath?'

'Yes, Rhys.'

'Why?'

'He's, uh, not quite himself.'

'Gwennie...'

'He's a jellyfish, alright?' Gwen said, finally getting the truth out. 'Well, at least that's what he looks like. Could be alien, we're not really sure, but let's just call it a jellyfish for now, yeah?'

Rhys should have been used to this sort of thing by now, but somehow it never got old. 'Why's he in our bath, then? D'you not have a bath at the hub?'

'Of course we have a bath!'

'Then why the bloody hell is he here?' Rhys said, not caring if Jack herd him or not. Did jellyfish have ears?

'I couldn't just leave him there on his own, Rhys.'

'Oh no, because it's not as if he doesn't have his own place to go home to.'

'Ianto is at that conference in London. I couldn't just leave Jack all on his own.' And she most certainly wasn't going to call Ianto and tell him what had happened. There was every chance that they could fix this before he was due back on Thursday. It's what Jack would have wanted.

'What's the point of having a team if you still have to do everything yourself?' Rhys asked.

'Come on, Rhys. It's Jack.'

'Exactly,' Rhys thought. Bloody Jack Harkness. 'Wait. How'd you get him here if he's got to stay in water?'

'Car fridge,' Gwen replied as if that was obvious.

'So, I can't use the bath tomorrow because we have a giant jellyfish swimming around in it.' He didn't really want this to be the moment he had to admit he was terrified of jellyfish. Perhaps it was some bad childhood experience at the beach that had done it, though he couldn't recall. There was just something so utterly creepy about the way they moved and those long tentacles that properly freaked him out. He loved the aquarium, watching all the brightly coloured clown fish and those massive sharks that swam overhead, but accidentally step into the room with all the creepily lit jellyfish, and he was headed for the hills.

'He's not giant.'

'Wait, so how am I supposed to shower tomorrow with him in there?'

'You can still use the shower, Rhys,' Gwen replied, pulling the covers up and trying to end their conversation so she could get some sleep.

'But... he'll see me!' He knew what Jack was like. It wouldn't have mattered what he'd managed to turn himself into, he wasn't going to suddenly find modesty and respect other people's privacy.

'I don't think they have eyes, Rhys. And even if they do, it'll be fine. It's Jack. Not as if he hasn't seen it all before.'

'More times than I'd like,' Rhys muttered.

The next morning he tentatively stepped into their small bathroom.

Don't freak out, Rhys Williams. Whatever you do, don't freak out.

On the left hand side was their bath, and in it was bobbing a red jellyfish. Not giant, my arse, he thought, remembering Gwen's promise from the night before. 'Alright,' Rhys greeted. He waited for some sign that Jack recognised him and was acknowledging him but it just kind of bobbed around. 'Okay, so this isn't weird at all. You'd better hope it's not permanent.'

Rhys went to remove his top, before pausing and turning back to the bathtub. 'Don't even think about taking a peek,' he warned. 'I'm not giving up a hot shower in the morning just because you can't help but fiddle with alien stuff.' He watched it for a moment longer. 'And don't think about moving either, for that matter.' If Jack made any sudden moves, throwing a tentacle out over the edge, Rhys was going to scream like a banshee.

'Ianto's going to owe me one when he gets back, that's all I'm saying,' Rhys said.