Cursed

“C’mon,” Jack said, sitting up and carefully forcing a grumbling Ianto to follow.  He could tell that these weren’t the ‘Ianto is very much not a morning person’ grumbles, but rather a bit of good-natured grousing.  “Let’s shower and get some food.”

“But ‘m comfortable,” Ianto argued, going boneless and slumping against Jack, and it was the closest Jack had ever heard to a whine coming from Ianto.  Well, at least outside of Jack teasing him during sex until he lost that blasted self-control of his. 

That thought had Jack stalling out for a moment before remembering the mission at hand.

“And we can get comfortable again, but you’ll feel better after a shower, and my skinny Kitty needs to eat!”  With that, he pulled Ianto out of the bed, turned him towards the bathing chamber, and smacked his backside to get him moving.

“Sleepy Kitty needs to sleep, more like,” Ianto grumbled, but he was moving. 

Jack grinned at the tacit, though most likely inadvertent, acceptance of the nickname.

They stepped into the bathing chamber – it truly was magnificent.  To the right were a pair of sinks, and beyond them, a toilet was partitioned off in a separate closet, for privacy.  But to the left the room became a bit of a wilderness, with tropical flowers blooming around a small waterfall.  The rough-hewn granite basin into which the water fell could be stopped so it could fill for a bath the size of a small pool.  The flow of the waterfall could be controlled, turned down to a trickle or drip when the basin became a bath.  Likewise, the water temperature could be controlled, but its default was pleasantly warm and usually required no adjustments.

Jack was still marveling at the sight of the waterfall when Ianto shambled back out of the toilet and reached for his toothbrush at the sink.  Somehow, the flow of water had not reminded Jack of his own need for the toilet, but he was thankful it had not tormented him as he waited.  When he came out, Ianto had finished brushing his teeth and was contemplating his razor with a look of doom.

Jack chuckled and wrapped his arms around his lover’s waist, planting a kiss behind his ear.  “It’s an official lazy day.  You don’t have to.”

Ianto looked up and met Jack’s eyes in the mirror before giving a smile that was ridiculously relieved.  “Thank you,” he said.

“Hey,” Jack frowned and turned Ianto around in his arms.  “On your birthday, I told you that you get to choose.  Whatever you want.  I wasn’t just talking about big stuff, like which day you celebrate your birthday.  I was also talking about everything, including all those little things you’ve always felt obliged to do, whether you wanted to do them, or not.”

“Things like shaving on a Sunday?” Ianto asked, but his eyes were shining with love and gratitude for Jack pointing this out to him.  It shouldn’t be required, but he was still healing; he needed the reinforcement, right now.

“Things like shaving on a Sunday,” Jack replied with a soft smile, more than happy to provide that reassurance to his lover.  He had noticed that the healing had scrambled a lot of things, for Ianto.  Not all of it had been obvious in hospital, but since they’d been out, Jack had seen that there were certain things Ianto had felt like he should do, even if they weren’t strictly necessary. 

They had navigated that fairly well, with Jack asking through kisses and curiosity why Ianto was doing a particular thing.  Sometimes it made sense – like getting dressed in something presentable because they’d be going for a walk after breakfast.  But others, like now, were merely leftover habits of cultivating a certain image that could now be a choice rather than a matter of survival.

It had hurt Jack down to the marrow of his bones that Ianto had stuck with the clean shaven, fully suited look on weekends because he couldn’t ask Jack if it was okay to be more casual for hours that were usually unscheduled, for Ianto. 

Jack had always admired Ianto’s work ethic.  Even after Lisa, he just showed up on the weekends to chip away at the archives and be close to Jack and support the team.  Jack now knew there were other motives, as well.  Ianto had confessed that he felt safer in the hub. 

And he had nothing else.  Books and movies and other hobbies could not hold his attention for very long – they later realized this was to do with being spellbound.  It created a great deal of what Bill had called background noise that tended to distract the one bound.  Ianto had been able to disregard it when doing what he considered to be important.  But he could not maintain that focus for anything that might be regarded as personal enjoyment.

Jack realized in retrospect that no one’s work ethic should look like Ianto’s had.  In many cases, he worked until he was exhausted enough to be able to sleep, despite that so-called background noise.  In others, he had Jack to distract him, but only if Jack initiated it.  Ianto had become adept at precipitating such invitations, but he had never been able to just go home and enjoy some downtime the way the others could.

Jack was more than happy that this had changed, for Ianto.  He was already seeing the benefits as the fatigue began to slowly wane and those treasured moments of ease and happiness became more frequent.  He speculated that Owen and Toshiko might need to get to know Ianto all over again; he was quite a different creature, now he was free.

Ianto interrupted his thoughts with a minty kiss before stepping beneath the waterfall.  Jack brushed his own teeth before lounging against the sink watching the water cascade over the planes of his lover’s pale body.  As always, Jack found him gorgeous, but he hadn’t been kidding, before; Ianto was still far too thin. 

They were making progress, though.  Ianto’s appetite seemed to be returning, albeit as slowly as the fatigue was waning.  And Jack was still just superstitious enough that he was afraid acknowledging the progress might make it stop.

“Are you coming, Sir?”  Once again, Ianto shook Jack from his reverie with an innuendo and a wicked smile.

Not yet, Jack thought with a smirk, and judging by Ianto’s laugh, something either in Jack’s expression or along their bond had told the younger man exactly what he’d been thinking.  He quickly made his way under the flow of water, gasping when he realized it was much, much cooler than normal.  Ianto normally enjoyed his showers on the scalding side of tolerably hot.

“Sorry,” Ianto muttered, looking self-conscious.  “Should’ve warned you.”

“No worries,” Jack replied, enjoying the cooler water now that it wasn’t such a shock.  “Anything in particular prompting the change?”

Ianto lifted a shoulder as he began to soap Jack’s chest.  “Just didn’t feel right.  Kept adjusting it until it felt more… soothing.”

Jack nodded thoughtfully.  “New moon tonight,” he said after a few minutes of Ianto gently washing and teasing him.

“The thought had occurred,” Ianto said, then sighed.  “Guess I’m going to have to figure this part out, on my own.”

“What, not feeling compelled to go for another run?”

“As strong as that urge was at the full moon, the urge today is to get back in bed,” Ianto replied with a yawn, even as his hands continued to tease Jack.

“Food, first,” Jack declared, but then amended.  “Actually, food second,” and captured his lover’s lips with his own.

It was some long, deeply satisfying minutes later when they emerged from the bathing chamber to see that the house elves had changed the sheets and set out a sumptuous breakfast.  Ianto ate more heartily than Jack had yet seen, and when they were done, he picked up their three books – each was reading his own selection, but they were taking turns reading the third to one another – and took Jack’s hand, leading him up to the top of the Astronomy Tower.

It was a rare, sunny day, and Jack just stood and breathed in the warm breeze.  With a wave of his wand, Ianto conjured an impossibly comfortable, squashy lounge chair built for two, a large umbrella to keep at least himself in the shade, and a light blanket, should the breeze turn any cooler.  They were both barefoot, wearing only thin t-shirts and track pants, and Ianto wanted to cuddle.  Jack was very much onboard with that; one of his favorite pastimes was snuggling, but he had always been reluctant to indulge with Ianto, knowing this would only make him more attached to the younger man. 

Now that those concerns had been alleviated, he now took every opportunity presented.  He spent a few minutes standing at the edge of the tower, appreciating the view before joining his lover on the lounge chair.  Ianto was already curled up (like a cat!), and as Jack got comfortable, Ianto stretched and hummed happily as he molded himself against Jack’s body.

“Want me to read to you?” Jack offered, but Ianto shook his head, burying it in Jack’s chest.  A sneaky hand made its way under Jack’s shirt, hiking it up so Ianto could rest his cheek against bare skin, then the blanket covered both Jack’s exposed torso and most of Ianto’s face.  Ianto purred and settled as Jack chuckled fondly.

Ianto napped for a while, and even Jack dozed in the sun – his thoughtful lover had set the umbrella so he was shaded, but Jack was almost fully sunlit.  The magical umbrella even moved with the sun, so they both remained comfortable. 

As Jack woke once more and returned to his book, he noticed that Ianto was awake, as well.  Intuiting that Ianto was having a few moments of introspection to himself, Jack turned his attention to his book, but he did run a lazy hand through Ianto’s hair, enjoying the curls that had appeared as the number of missed haircuts had gone well beyond three, now.  He spent a few chapters thus occupied, but in the end, curiosity got the better of him.

“Ianto?”

“Mmmm?”

“You okay?”

Ianto moved his head, and the blanket fell away so he could look up into Jack’s eyes.  His head was half covered in the blanket, and he looked adorably ruffled as that happy little smile graced his lips, once more.

“’m fine,” Ianto said, sounding more sleepy than he looked, and Jack realized that speaking – and moving! – was a bit of an effort for his lover, at the moment.  “Jus’… quiet.”

Jack was feeling more than ‘quiet’ along their bond.  He was feeling a ruminative introspection that was slowing down all other functions, rendering Ianto sluggish and practically non-verbal.  He’d be concerned if not for an instinct that this was the dragon’s influence at the new moon.  The other factor that eased his concern was that rare, beautiful smile and the deep sense of contentment that was welling up between them.

“Feeling okay?” he double-checked.

Ianto nodded, then smiled up at Jack again before shuffling up a bit to kiss him.  More of those soft, tender kisses followed, all patient lips and shared breath and quiet purrs.  Jack was thoroughly enjoying himself, but then he felt a quick, sharp bolt of fear.  In the next moment, Ianto was burying his face in Jack’s neck, breathing him in and trying to calm himself as he tried to play it off as a hug.  But the arms clung too tightly, and Jack’s heart broke as he realized what had happened.

Ianto had, for a moment, realized that he was happy.  And it had terrified him, because until now, that hadn’t exactly been allowed.

“Shhh,” Jack sat up straighter, then reached down and shifted Ianto so the younger man was straddling his lap.  He wrapped his arms around Ianto and ran his hands up and down the younger man’s spine, trying to soothe.  “I’m right here, Love.” 

***