[for Ianto]

[more_flexible]

In the end, it had been quiet. It had just ended. After days of being unable to do a damn thing but be there, smile, hold her, be strong for them all, after days of that, Mimi was gone.

Jack had yet to move. He sat in the corner of the clinic, his eyes fixed on some middle point. His fingers moved against his lips slowly.

It's over.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now.

Comments

[coffee_sir]

Ianto couldn't have made Bagoas move if he had even wanted to. Disturbing Tosh was out of the question. But Jack... Jack would linger too long. Jack wouldn't get his mind off of this for days unless someone forced him to.

So Ianto took up that role, as per usual. Quietly he moved into the clinic, taking Jack gently by the arm and tugging him to his feet. Just out of there and into the kitchen. Somewhere else.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He rose and folowed and was out the door before he snapped out of it and looked at Ianto. Another second to process the wordless escort, and Jack took an audible breath.

"It's done."

Ianto may not have needed to be told, but Jack needed to say it.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto gave a shallow nod of recognition to Jack's words.

"At least it was peaceful," he said, pouring each of them a cup of coffee. He hadn't been in the room, but just outside, in the hallway, in the kitchen, not having anywhere else at all to be.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He'd realy like to believe that, but watching just how hard it was to breathe, seeing her shrink and fade before his eyes...it might have not been violent, but it sure as hell wasn't peaceful.

Still, he nodded and took the cup. A cursory, "Thank you," and he took a sip, hardly tasting it. There was something else he should say; some pattern to talking to people. "How...have you been?"

[coffee_sir]

"I'm fine," Ianto said dismissively, taking a sip of coffee and not really tasting it either. It was far from his first cup of the day. "I'm rather good at waiting, it seems."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack blinked and looked up, catching something in Ianto's tone that wasn't right or deserved when it came to Mimi. He just wasnt thinking about much else and so his sparkling reply was simply, "Huh?"

[coffee_sir]

Ianto blinked, belatedly realizing his error, and shook his head. "Nothing. Daniel's.. been out. For a bit. Longer than he said he'd be. I'm just... annoyed," he sighed. Annoyed was one word for it. Truth was, there were a hundred different emotions bouncing about inside of him, and anger -- or anything resembling it -- was the easiest to latch onto.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"How long?" he asked immediately. He'd been so wrapped up with Mimi and the clinic and Tosh and...well, it had been a while since he'd paid attention to anything else. "Do you know where?"

[coffee_sir]

"Since Thursday morning," Ianto answered automatically. He would have had the hours counted as well, except for the fact that he had no clock. "I think there's some temple out to the north east he was checking out."

It occurred to him that Jack might have lost track of time, so he added. "It's Sunday now. More or less."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack sighed, but he wasn't remotely surprised. The moment Ianto said 'temple' it was just a given. Daniel could probably be gone all month and not notice.

"Tired of being alone?" he asked, looking across the rim of his cup at him. "I could come back with you."

[coffee_sir]

Ianto lifted an eyebrow as he leaned against the counter, a tired smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Shouldn't you go home with Greg?" He sighed heavily and shook his head. "I'm.. tired, yes. That's all."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Greg's busy with...things. Something about contagion, I think," he said flatly. "I don't want to go back to the hut alone."

[coffee_sir]

The eyebrow only arched more, but he didn't ask. If it was all that important, Ianto would find out soon enough.

"Then come with me," he said. "If you can stand Banon getting all excited for you."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I think I can handle her. We came to an understanding, I think, on the beach," Jack replied. Any other day he might have flashed a smile, there might have been a teasing lilt to his tone.

Not now. Not today.

[coffee_sir]

"Oh did you?" Ianto replied, just as dully. Mostly for show, for something to say, rather than really meaning it. He threw out the rest of his coffee in the sink and headed for the door. "Come on. There's a bit of time before the sun's up still."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He nodded and dumped his own down the drain, then fell in beside Ianto and headed for the door in silence. There wasn't anything he really wanted to say, and idle conversation just seemed...useless.

[coffee_sir]

Small talk was useless, and Ianto didn't really believe in anything that didn't have a point to it, not even a slight one. They didn't need soothing, and words were paltry comfort, they both knew that. Moving, walking was simple. Setting one foot in front of the other made one feel like one had a purpose.

And he was knackered. Jack had been up far longer than him and Ianto didn't feel he had the mental capacity for much more than regurgitating facts.

The walk was silent and still, the dense forest encrouching on all sides. Banon, mercifully, was half-asleep when they came into the hut, curled up on her bed of blankets, bits of Budge and a stick torn up and scattered over the floor.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

It was quiet. Simple. It was just how it was with Ianto, and Jack knew what to expect and he appreciated that simple fact. The dog was quiet, the hut was quiet, and there was such an unspoken peace with just the two of them that Jack could relax. Could, but didn't, much.

He kicked off his shoes and bent down to pick them up and set them up high, since he wanted to have them when he woke up. Shoes, shirt...he left his jeans on. Another unspoken concession of both intent and respect. This wasn't anything more than what he'd said earlier.

Jack laid down and moved to leave room for Ianto on the bed. As tired as he was, he laid still, staring at the ceiling. He needed to help Tosh and Owen. Check on Bagoas. Help Greg when the body was ready. He needed to go find Daniel...if only for an excuse to run away for a while. And then, he thought of something worthwhile to say.

"Thanks, Ianto."

[coffee_sir]

Even though Ianto rarely wore his suits any more, the wardrobe still had a purpose: protection. He stripped down to his boxers and stashed all his clothes inside, quietly. Banon was given a pat on the head and a sign they'd been working on: "still". She didn't seem in any mood to disobey.

Crawling into bed beside Jack, silently grateful for a little extra body heat despite the higher temperatures of the new climate, Ianto stopped, propped up on one elbow at Jack's words.

He gave him a wan smile, then leaned down, cupping his cheek lightly, and gave him a kiss. Nothing passionate or even inching towards that. Just firm, solid, a straightforward expression. "Rwy'n dy garu di, Jack," he said softly. "Sleep."

It was little less than an order, and Ianto settled himself on the pillow beside Jack.