[for ianto and daniel] Wednesday Sept. 19

[more_flexible]

Jack took the bucket and left House and Wilson together in the rec room. He made good on his suggestion, finding his way to Ianto's hut easily in the twilight. It really was magic because by the time he got there, not only had none of the ice melted, there were a few more beers than there had been before.

He knocked on the door and waited, hoping it was still early enough he wasn't interrupting anything. And hey, if he was, he had a peace offering.

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[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"You can't be right," he said, quiet, and with far less certainty than before. He couldn't be here, not like this. Not in Greg's room without him. His heart was beating hard and it just made his head hurt all the more.

Jack closed his eyes and the room shifted before them, even though he wasn't looking. The bed became something big and wide and closer to the floor. Japanese silks covered it and rice paper screens and lanterns adorned the room. The walls were more like the hut's, but the bamboo was lighter, split carefully, and all the gaps sealed tightly.

By the time he opened his eyes, tears had tracked his cheeks, but he could take the sight of Kyoto much easier than New Jersey.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"Can't you see, Jack? You didn't want to be in Greg's room, so you changed it. Just like you made the room in the first place, because you know that there's nowhere in the hut to sleep. Want something else and I'm sure it'll show up." He didn't want to feel sorry for Jack. He really, really didn't want to, but seeing the tears running down Jack's face...

He wasn't that heartless.

Moving forward, he placed a hand on Jack's arm. "Trust me, Jack. We'll get you through this." An echo of Jack's words to him. He managed not to flinch when he said them. Improvement, maybe.

[coffee_sir]

"Jack," Ianto echoed softly, walking into the room, even though he was wary of it. "We're not trying to trick you. Why would we? We're trying to help you understand."

He stepped forward to Jack's side, placing a light hand at his elbow.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack swallowed hard, his tongue aching as he did and his jaw becoming hot and tender. "I...did it? Are you telling me that somehow I..."

He looked at Daniel in disbelief, then to Ianto. Had he done this? What in the hell was going on? What in the hell was he supposed to do? Stay here or go get House, but if he did that...

"I don't want to see them in bed together," he said as he began to shake.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"At least some of it. The bedroom. But who knows about the rest?" Daniel had his suspicions. He'd already aired them, as a matter of fact. But now that Jack actually seemed to be seeing reason, he didn't want to throw it back in his face.

He hesitated. Again, he knew what he should do, he just wasn't sure he was willing to go that extra step. Finally, he gave a long sigh. "Do you want me to go find him? I can...bring him back."

He closed his eyes, wondering when he'd gone from hating Jack to...this.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto shifted his hand from Jack's elbow to the small of his back, gently rubbing his hand up and down. "This is why you need to talk to him," he said softly. "He was probably under the same daze you were."

He glanced at Daniel, giving him a slight grateful look. Daniel really didn't have to do that, but Ianto appreciated him offering, because he knew how much effort it must have taken to say anything.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"No," he said, emphatic in that one thing if nothing else. It had been long enough that...oh, God.

"No, I'll just...tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll find him," he nodded, leaning back a little into the pressure of Ianto's hand. If things had been just a little different, he'd have taken him by the hand and curled up with him, sleeping with Ianto's warmth behind him. Something about that, regardless of who it was, made him feel better instantly. That it was Ianto only made it better.

But he wasn't an idiot, and Daniel would never...well, maybe not never, but certainly not now...

"Tomorrow," he sighed and stepped closer to the bed, peeling off his shirt and kicking off his shoes. "I'll figure out something," he added as he stripped off his jeans.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel couldn't help but gawk. "God, you are worse than Vala," Daniel muttered. He'd never thought that was possible until he'd met Jack. Until he'd met Jack when he wasn't being just nice. Daniel shook his head.

Very much under his breath, he muttered, "At least you've stopped hitting on me."

He didn't expect Jack to hear. He didn't even expect Ianto to hear and he was much closer.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto barely even blinked at the display, because he knew that for Jack it was completely normal. He had shared a bed with Jack, completely innocently, too many times for Jack's sleeping habits to affect him anymore.

He shook his head slightly at Daniel's comment, but didn't respond. "Just don't wish yourself away from here," he said to Jack, then took a step towards the door. "Do you need anything?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack pulled the covers back and climbed into bed, shaking his head. The bedding next to him sank and a woman in a kimono appeared beside him. Jack looked over at her and she smiled and looked down.

"I...am not going anyplace," Jack said, looking up at Ianto.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel's shocked look was transferred from Jack to the woman. After a moment, he bowed slightly. "Ohayo Gazaimasu," he said in Japanese, as if she were a real life woman instead of just some...woman that Jack had created out of his imagination.

"So much worse than Vala," he muttered a bit louder.

As far as he knew, she'd never created someone solely for the purpose of...whatever it was that Jack wanted from this woman.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto simply shook his head at the woman, grinning faintly at Daniel's gesture. He stepped behind the other man and placed his hands on his arms, gently directing him towards the new door.

"Come on," he murmured quietly in Daniel's ear. "Have a nice night, Jack," he called to he other man.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack nodded and laid down. The woman never looked up, but she bowed toward where Daniel was. Jack sighed softly and reached up, pluckig the comb from her hair and watching as it spilled over her shoulders.

As the door closed his voice carried them out.

"Samishi katta desu, utsukushii," he purred. "Yoko ni narinasai."

What they couldn't see was Jack lying on his side with his back to her and closing his eyes at the feeling of her holding him lightly.



[I've missed you so much, beautiful. Lie down.]

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel looked between the door and Ianto and back again, an unreadable look on his face - even to Ianto. He knew what he had wanted and he knew what he should do. What he didn't know was this odd tight feeling in his chest was. The one that he'd had almost since Jack had conjured up Greg's bedroom.

He didn't love Jack. He didn't even like the man. But...

Taking a very deep breath, he turned to Ianto. "If I wasn't...well, if I'd spent the night in Atlantis without you, what would you have done?" His face was still unreadable, his tone neutral.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto blinked, giving Daniel a confused look and glancing quickly towards Jack on the bed with the woman. His hands slid down to Daniel's waist and, walking backwards, he slowly tried to lead them out of the room.

"I ... would have done the same thing," he said, then swallowed and added quietly, "And let him sleep with me." He kept his gaze focused on Daniel now, silently pleading with him not to turn this into a fight, not right now, not in this room with Jack trying to get some rest.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel nodded slowly, as if it weren't a surprise. And it wasn't. Not really. He'd seen the easy way they'd touched each other. The companionship. It was one of the reasons he'd been so jealous. Still was, if he were honest. Still...

He took another breath - a deep one - and let it out slowly.

He bent in and kissed Ianto slowly. "Then I'm going to go get some sleep and you can...pretend I'm still back in Atlantis."

There. He'd said it.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto blinked again, truly surprised now, because that was probably the last thing he would have expected Daniel to say. He wasn't even sure how to react. A part of him was grateful, but another part of him felt guilty for even considering taking Daniel up on that backhanded offer.

"I don't even.." he murmured, confused, then leaned in to kiss Daniel again. "Hold on," he said quietly, then walked back over to the door. Rapping gently at the door, Ianto opened it and stepped into the room, walking over to Jack's bedside.

"Jack," he said softly as he knelt beside the bed. A quick glance was given to the woman, and then he settled his hand on Jack's arm. "Jack, do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

When they were alone and settled, Jack looked back at her. "Naishi," he said softly, reaching to hold the hand she had draped over him. It wasn't real, and he wasn't going to pretend she was, but while he had her here, he'd enjoy her. God, he'd missed her. "Sing...utai?"

The woman's voice wasn't much more than a whisper as she leaned close and sang into Jack's ear. No breath, no warmth...she wasn't even really there.

Yononaka wo
Ushi to yasashi to
Omohe domo
Tobitachi kanetsu
Tori ni shi arane ba

She stopped singing when Ianto entered and Jack opened his eyes. "Of course," he said simply, then looked at the door. "Is Daniel coming, too?" he asked, moving back, closer to the woman who seemed transparent, almost, although she felt just fine against his body through the blankets.





[I feel the life is sorrowful and unbearable though I can't flee away since I am not a bird]

[coffee_sir]

Ianto paused for a long moment, not sure how aware of his surroundings Jack really was. He had wished this all into existence after all. It was something of a dream for him. Ianto wondered if he could really tell the difference if that were the case.

"..Do you want him to?" he asked carefully. "I could ask, but I don't know if he wants to or not."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," he replied softly, smiling as he closed his eyes. "Both of you. Bed's big enough."

Naishi looked at Ianto over Jack's shoulder and faded away entirely.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto blinked again, slowly, then leaned in to kiss Jack's forehead lightly. "I'll be right back," he said, standing up and walking out of the room.

He looked at Daniel hesitantly, biting at his bottom lip as he entered the room. "He... asked if you wanted to sleep there as well," Ianto explained. It was all just a shade more than surreal, and Ianto was almost waiting for something to interrupt it.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel's head whirled and he felt a little dizzy. "Of course he did," he said and then actually thought about it. It wasn't the sleeping part that had bothered him. He'd shared close quarters with Jack and Sam and Teal'c before. It was the Jack part. He'd been willing to...well...loan out Ianto. But now Jack wanted him in the bed, too.

But then he remembered the look on Jack's face when he realized how screwed up things might have been. And he remembered how much Daniel wished that his own realization would have been better.

"You'd have to be between us," Daniel said slowly. "I still don't know that I'm ready to..." He trailed off, not sure what it was that he wasn't ready for.

[coffee_sir]

"You don't have to," Ianto said, reaching out to take Daniel's hand. "If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to. But, if you do..."

Somehow, Ianto felt better if Daniel was there with them. It felt less like betraying Daniel, less like he was doing something behind his back or that he would disapprove of if Daniel was a part of it. But he didn't say that, didn't want to influence Daniel's decision either way.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

He took a long breath. "Honestly, he's kind of going through what I was and I know that I would have wanted that instead of this." He nodded alternately at the door and his leg. He squeezed Ianto's hand tightly. "Maybe...maybe if I do this, things will go back to how they were two months ago."

Daniel didn't put a lot of hope into it, but anything was better than now. This alternating hating and pitying. He didn't want to live with it, and maybe this was how he'd be able to get over it.

"After all," he said, with a soft smile that barely reached his eyes. "He did want me in there, didn't he?"

[coffee_sir]

Ianto nodded slowly, smiling in return, near a mirror image of his, though there was a glimmer that reached his eyes. "Okay," he said, leaning in to give Daniel another soft kiss. "And he did," he added, sliding one arm around Daniel's waist, kissing the corner of his mouth.

The situation felt so strange, especially given their recent problems, that Daniel would actually consent to something like this. It made him feel a little nervous, though he hid it, and tried to ignore it.

"I'm just going to go in," he said, kissing Daniel again. "You can change if you want."