m_findlow

Title: Sir Bake A Lot
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt 77 - Cooking at fffc
Summary: Ianto's hobby is about to go off the scales.

When Jack had teased Ianto about starting up a bakery, he'd assumed it was just that - teasing.

He knew his husband was the most amazing wizard in the kitchen when it came to all things sweet. Jack himself was the man in charge of savory delights, but Ianto wasn't far behind him. It was merely that Ianto preferred baking, which he described as something different to cooking. In Jack's mind they were one and the same. Anything that was made in a kitchen was cooking as far as he was concerned, although when Ianto did it it was more like magic. He loved it when Ianto let him join in, too. The two of them usually ending up baking a whole lot less than they planned, since Jack liked to eat the constituent ingredients, or the raw batter, and what he didn't eat often ended up painted on one or both of their bodies, ready to be licked and kissed off, preferably very slowly.

It had all begun when Ianto put forth the idea that their little township out in the middle of beautiful, mountainous, lakeside nowhere, should hold an event to showcase the best of what people could make, grow or produce, with the sales going towards a fundraising effort to improve their communal facilities. There'd been prizes of course for each of the respective categories, and whilst Ianto's efforts had only won him second place - which Jack thought was a crime in itself, and possibly the first time in the entire time they'd lived here, that he considered anyone to be less than completely honest and trustworthy - people had still given Ianto effusive praise for his entry.

Since then, word had spread around town that Ianto was not only quite talented in the kitchen, but that he enjoyed it. Jack thought this was a silly notion since no one who was any good at whipping up a storm in the kitchen would do so without enjoying what they did. Jack knew that no attempt to cook should be made when you were in a bad mood. His dishes had always turned out poorly when he'd been having a bad day or needed to vent. Cooking needed love and happiness which, fortunately for him, came in spades.

It had started out innocuously enough, with some of their closest neighbours making the odd request here and there. They always insisted on paying, even though Ianto was happy to drum up their favourites for all the times they'd popped over for an afternoon cuppa. Mostly it was bartered goods, fresh vegetables, some seeds for the garden, fresh loaves of bread or eggs. Bartering accounted for more than half the trade around town since money only bought you stuff that was more obscure.

After that, word had spread. Jack suspected it came about from folks serving up some of Ianto's baked creations to their friends when they popped round for same said cuppa, and soon Ianto was taking orders from people two or three miles away, and dropping them off. He was getting behind on all his other work but Jack assured him that was okay. They could always work less and they didn't need the money. It was just a wrench for Jack to come home in the evening and find the house full of the aroma of sweet things but not actually have any left to eat himself.

When orders started to double and people from all the way across the other side of the lake had gotten wind, Jack knew it was time to make a decision.

'You need a shop,' he said one night.

'It's not that bad,' Ianto insisted, rearranging tomorrow's deliveries of biscuits and slices into boxes four high on their kitchen bench. Cakes would be made first thing in the morning so they would be fresh on arrival. Jack was getting used to the five am wakeups, on the proviso that they got a sleep in on weekends.

'It is,' Jack replied. 'You can't even fit them all in the car. How many trips will all that take? And how much time will that leave for filling more orders?'

Ianto scratched his head. 'That's a good point. I don't know how it got so out of control so quickly.'

'Um, because you make the best cakes this side of Alpha Six?'

Ianto smiled at him. 'Flatterer.'

'Seriously, though. There's a little place right at the end of the high street, you know the one?'

'Oh, the guy who was trying to sell insurance? Yeah, that wasn't going to last long around here, was it?'

'Exactly. No one has picked it up yet.' Not that it was surprising. The local high street was no more than a dozen shops all up. 'You put those in the window and people can come pick them up themselves, or just buy on the day whatever you happen to feel like making.'

'I suppose,' he said slowly, considering all the finer details that Jack would naturally gloss over. 'I'd need to plan it all out. It might take a few weeks. Clean up the place, a fresh coat of paint, fridges and cabinets to store everything. Oh, and someone is going to have to be there while I'm at home baking. Gosh, but we'll have to hire someone!

So slow down on all of this for a bit with a view to longer term gains. I can see that you've become passionate about this so do it properly. Maybe put in a proper kitchen at the shop so you have more space and everything you need. Call it Joneses Bakehouse.' Ianto scrunched his face at Jack's proposed name. 'It was only a flippant throwaway suggestion. Call it whatever you like, not that it'll matter. You could call it something awful and people will still flock there.'

'What about Ianto's Delights?'

Jack chuckled and pulled him close. 'I don't think so. Your delights are all mine and nobody else gets those.'