Closed~

[sometimes_boe]

When; Backdated to right after 4th Wall
Rating; I think we can keep it clean enough for PG
Characters; Jack Harkness, Mecy Thompson, and Ianto Jones
Summary; How much awkward can there be between three people? Let's find out.
Log;

When Jack hadn't slept. It was probably the first time in months that he hadn't slept at least once, but he couldn't help but want to wait till midnight when he knew this particularly cruel curse would run it's course and things would hurt a little less.

So he waited in the living room, the kitchen, the lab, outside, anywhere that wasn't a bedroom until it was safely into the next day and he could gather his will power to check on what he assumed to be Ianto's empty room.

By the time it was 'safely into the next day' Jack still hadn't moved from his place on the couch and he didn't really know when he'd be able to.

He really didn't want to see that empty room...so he waited.

Comments

[coyote_walking]

Mercy had spent the past two nights not sleeping in her room and had hid in the garage all day Sunday so that Jack could have some alone time with Ianto if he wanted it - which she assumed he would.

Their own relationship was still in the very early stages and she was still uncertain of it - of them.

Still, after a check of the Network and discovering that all the visitors had indeed gone home, she headed out to search for Jack, figuring he'd need a little comfort and support.

She found him in the living room on the couch and perched on the arm near him, leaning in with the intent of lightly kissing the top of his head, but not at all certain he would allow her to.

"Hey."

[likesavantgarde]

Ianto, on the other hand slept all too well that night. The events of the last few days slowly creeping up on him, to exhaustion and seeing as he figured from what he had been told that he would likely not be here come the morning he figured to take what he could grab. He hadn't even asked Jack to bed in case he simply up and vanished back into the chaos he'd left.

So imagine his surprise come Monday morning - well, had he really slept in that late? - when he was still in the exact same place he fell asleep the night before. He lay there for a few minutes longer, before climbing up out of bed and searching for suitable clothes to wear, both excited and nervous to share the news to Jack and his...friend? He hadn't felt the need to ask.

[sometimes_boe]

Jack didn't pull away when Mercy sat near him nor did he move to stop her from kissing him. He didn't really move much at all. He didn't know what he was feeling or if he needed comforting for something he couldn't..or wouldn't describe.

He didn't want to think about it. He really just wanted the city to stop playing with him.

"Hey. You've been hiding away."

[coyote_walking]

"I know," she said quietly, slipping down to sit next to him and rest her head on his shoulder, arms around him to try and help however she could. "It was, I don't know, maybe foolish of me. But I wanted you to have some time with him - without me in the way."

She hadn't thought she could handle watching it, if the two of them had started to become intimate, but she also hadn't wanted to stop Jack from having that opportunity with someone she knew he'd loved very much - if the old Jack and this now was anything to go by.

[likesavantgarde]

Unaware to the going ons in the living room, Ianto dressed quickly and was a moment later, closing the door of his bedroom silently behind him. He had no idea if anyone was even awake yet and didn't want to wake them. Thinking he would make coffee and perhaps breakfast for them, he made his way down the hall. However he stopped by the living room hearing snippets of a conversation. Jack's voice. Then a quieter female voice. A quick peer inside showed her with her arm around him in an almost protective and reassuring way. Jack had been slightly distant with him during his time here, maybe as not to make it hard for when he left. Regardless, there was a pang of something that made him want to hurry back into his room and pretend not to have seen or make a break for the kitchen.

He turned quickly and quietly as not to interrupt, except he'd already forgotten where the kitchen was. Bugger. This time he returned with a smile and a cheerful "Morning."

Better to announce his presence now than scare them later.

[sometimes_boe]

"You were never 'in the way,' Mercy." Truthfully, he hadn't really known what to do with Ianto being here. Part of him had wanted to make up for the abrupt end they had faced, but another wanted to stay as far away as possible to limit the damage the other man's disappearance would cause.

He was about to say something else to Mercy when the very voice he expected to only find in his dreams cut through his thoughts. Slowly, he looked up to where Ianto stood, same as ever, in the living room. He hadn't left.

What?

"Ianto..." Standing, he closed the distance between them and placed a firm kiss on the younger man's lips before pulling away again with a smile. "You're still here."

He didn't really know what to say or do, he felt like a kid in a candy store and, at the moment, everything suddenly seemed dream-like and amazing.

[coyote_walking]

Mercy looked up with a sense of shock. Ianto was still here? Then that meant... He was staying.

She watched Jack get up and go over to Ianto, watched him kiss the other man, saw his smile...

It hurt. More than she could ever have imagined it would. What did you do when your lover's real love returned, came back from the dead?

She made herself smile, desperately glad that they weren't werewolves and couldn't smell her real emotions. Now she just had to manage to gracefully back out of her whatever-it-was with Jack. Soon. Very soon.

Because it would hurt so very much more if she waited for him to tell her he needed to be with Ianto.

But right now, she wasn't sure her legs would hold her up, so she held the smile and hoped like hell that her voice wouldn't wobble too badly.

"Ianto. Well... welcome to the City."

[likesavantgarde]

Ianto shrugged, and smiled back. "I guess I am. Staying, I mean." He replied. Not that he would've been none the wiser if he went home, apparently he wouldn't remember this in the first place, but there was a sense that things back home wouldn't change without him which was a relief. He was happy. One hand going to Jack's shoulder, he pressed back into the kiss. Brief as it were, he let it do the talking for him.

He pulled back slightly. "Thank you." He looked from Mercy to Jack. He didn't need to smell emotions, because he was rather good at reading them on his own, being a master of hiding them.