TW fic: All These Days After Tomorrow (Jack/Ianto; PG)

[rm]

Title: All These Days After Tomorrow
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Series 3 -- if you're trying to stay unspoiled, skip this for now as it will either make no sense or give you spoilers or both.
A/N: thanks to xtricks for chattering with me about this particular topic and helping me solve the name problem.
A/N #2: Spoiler sites are contradictory on whether "Steven" is the name of Alice's son (Jack's grandson) or Ianto's nephew in Series 3. The kid's name here will get changed when we actually know what's what.



"I'm having lunch with Alice today," Jack says, fastening his cufflinks. Ianto knows they won't last past 11am; Jack will get bored or irritated or otherwise uncomfortable and they'll wind up sitting in the paperclip holder on his desk when Jack decides to roll up his sleeves.

"Are you expecting this to be a good one or a bad one?" Ianto asks, as noncommittally as possible. He's not sure he actually cares, except in the abstract. Merely, he can tell Jack wishes to talk about it, and he knows Jack can only do that if he responds.

"I'd like to see Steven."

"Is she bringing him?"

"No."

"Ah."

Jack stops fidgeting with his cuff then and turns to smile at Ianto. Why Jack likes it when he makes that noise of I-don't-know-what-to-say-realisation, he has no idea, but it's impossible not to smile back, even if it's awkward, even if Ianto will never quite get over the oddity of dressing side by side with him in the mornings.

Ianto walks out of the bedroom as Jack checks his Webley.

The four minutes from then until they manage to get out the door are passed in silence. This too, Ianto finds odd; Jack is almost always talking, but these mornings in the flat are always like this, quiet and nearly suffocating. That there is an ease in that sense of suffocation doesn't surprise Ianto, it just makes him smirk.

He tosses his keys impatiently in his hand as he waits for Jack, who has stopped to open the refrigerator and drink orange juice straight from the carton. Again. Oddly, he suspects Jack does it to make him laugh and so Ianto does, before letting the silence return.

It is only once they're in the car, Ianto putting it into gear, that Jack speaks again.

"You could come with, you know," he says.

"I can't imagine that would be a good idea."

"Why not?" Jack asks, and Ianto knows he's trying to provoke. But it's not about him, of course. It's about Alice.

"How old is she again, Jack?"

Jack frowns, thinking. "Thirty-four?"

"How old am I?"

"Oh."

Ianto glances at him and give a brief apologetic smile. "I will if you want, but I truly don't think she'd be amused."

Jack gives a long, frustrated sigh. "You always take this conversation so well," he says. It's ridiculously obvious that he's unhappy.

Ianto shrugs. "What am I supposed to do, exactly?"

"Be disturbed," Jack offers lightly, in a way that Ianto thinks is vastly cruel and unfair to all concerned.

"Sorry," he says, keeping his eyes on the road, "no interest in contributing to the family drama."

"No. Of course not. Always so calm, so even, our Ianto."

Ianto snorts. "We both know that's not true."

"Doesn't it bother you?" Jack asks after a while, and Ianto realizes it's likely he'll be petulant all day.

"What then?"

"That one day you'll look older than me. It certainly bothers her."

"Oh, I think she's probably bothered by a good deal more than that," Ianto says, stifling the urge to tell Jack they both know he won't live that long and that he shouldn't be that intentionally obtuse besides. It's unbecoming.

"The not dying," Jack supplies. It's almost a non-sequitur, but not, Ianto thinks, enough of one.

"Yeah, the not dying. Does she know about that?"

"No."

"Oh." Ianto frowns. He doesn't always know why Jack brings certain things up, except to wound.

"Does it bother you?" Jack asks into his obvious confusion.

"No, not really."

"Not really?"

"It used to."

"Really?" Jack asks. Ianto can hear him smile, like he's caught him out at something. He hasn't.

"Really."

"Why?"

"Doesn't everyone want to live forever when they're sixteen? Didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"And then one day, you grow up and you realize that would be a terrible thing. Although," Ianto teases, "maybe you never got around to that."

Jack chuckles, and Ianto offers him another smile, not nearly as reluctant as he thinks it should be. It's easier than talking about Lisa though, easier than reminding Jack that maybe he shouldn't get his average opinions on mortality from a bloke who's been ready to die on and off for a while now.

"I would like you to meet her eventually," Jack says, face pressed to the window and looking out at the road.

Ianto glances over at him and wishes there were something he could do that would actually be of help. But there isn't. He can't make Alice like her father and he can't make Jack stop trying to wedge all their lives into either the habits of some normal mortal earth that has never actually existed or some colony not even yet to be.

"Not today, okay?" Ianto says quietly, knowing, that if Jack chooses to press, he'll acquiesce nearly immediately to no one's particular benefit.

"Yeah," Jack says, fidgeting with his cuffs already as if everything in the world just takes too damn long. "Not today."

Comments

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

You are full of the smart. I love your self possessed Ianto. And Jack's thing with the cufflinks. Yeah. I know that feeling. It's like all things with Jack-- things start out with the best of intentions, and them somewhere they get waylaid.

I really liked this.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

I love the pragmatism and understanding in this.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[bare-bear.livejournal.com]

I'm incredibly interested in finding out more about Alice. It honestly didn't occur to me that Jack could have kids running around, and was pretty shocked to find out that Alice was his daughter. I can't wait to see Jacks interactions with Alice (and if she really gets to meet and interact with Ianto because HOLY AWKWARD BATMAN!).

With that over with, I like this fic. I haven't seen anyone tackle Alice yet. They are all in character, even Alice, whom we haven't even seen much of yet! :D Poor Jack.

"And then one day, you grow up and you realize that would be a terrible thing. Although," Ianto teases, "maybe you never got around to that."

I love how you write Ianto. This is such a serious and almost cruel line, then followed by teasing and flirting. And his awkwardness in the mornings. :D I'm sorry, I'll stop gushing. This was a great break from writing my term paper, and now I'm just procrastinating by babbling. :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad all the layers came through.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I'll have to wait, but am looking forward to reading this.(Not QUITE as much as New Who and Torchwood.)

[explodeyy.livejournal.com]

I love the silence of this. Beautiful.
And Ianto is brilliant. He always is in your fics. =]


What I want to see in the 3rd series is Ianto meeting Alice, if he hasn't already. But I seriously don't think Jack would tell him, unlike he did with Flat Holm. Jack would most likely keep that one a secret because he'd think no one else can help him with it. Ianto can help with Flat Holm but not with Jack's daughter. It's his responsibility and only his.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Your theory makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, we don't necessarily know what Jack tells Ianto in general and what Ianto finds out specifically (as opposed to generally like Gwen) and demands to be let in on.

[neifile7.livejournal.com]

How well they communicate sometimes, while to all appearances doing it very badly. But I admire how you bring out the content of the silences and provocations, the familiarity that underpins the awkwardness. The barbed edge isn't ever going away, I think -- and that may be a good or a bad thing, but it's theirs.

fidgeting with his cuffs already as if everything in the world just takes too damn long

Lovely. I've never thought of Jack's rolled-up sleeves as a running signifier of his impatience, but yes, that's exactly right, and a perfect closing image.

(Oh, and two picks: "Why the Jack likes it..."? Intentional? Also, "non-sequitur," not "sequitor." :) Anal reader is anal.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered about Jack's habits with his shirts. They are problematic for a number of reasons. Almost all his shirts have french cuffs. Almost all his shirts also have box-pleat pockets which are only appropriate to a non-French cuff shirt (my tailor thought I was fucking high when I tried to go there). And then Jack's always rolling up his sleeves. He's been a man in uniform for a long time, so he's used to the confinement, so what's the issue there? And why are those shirts like that (is he having them made that way because they suit his foibles, is it something the costume department did thinking the cuffs would only be visible when the pockets weren't and then rolled up when the pockets were?)? This to me is a big issue to solve.

Anyway, thank you for the nits. I found the really bad typo while on my mobile and was like "aaaaargh, can't fix from here!"

[fide-et-spe.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought Stephen was Ianto's nephew? It's the blond boy in the trailer? Is it Jack's grandson? I think I have failed at spoiling here. Although I had read JB's interview about how Alice hates that she looks older than Jack and says that's why her mother hated him.

Anyhow I enjoyed this and I will be interested to see if Ianto does know, I think he might, especially given Jack has been paying for her to live a luxurious life. (Oh to have a rich father who feels guilty about you)

I always think you write great conversations between them, very in character.

[electrogirl09.livejournal.com]

Just wondering; in which interview does JB talk about Alice hating herself looking older than Jack? Want to read it as i haven't already lol.

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

A very, very sharp little study. Thanks, as ever.

Ai ai ai, if the UK S3 dates are indeed the same as the BBC America ones, then, irony of ironies, I will actually be in London that week but unable to watch it. Because I'm going for the Proms, and we have concert tickets for every single night I'm there.

So ... I've just ordered the DVDs from the BBC Shop.

Unrelated brag: on new icon. Hope it comes out OK.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Your icon is hilarious.

And yeah, the UK and American dates are the same as far as we know.

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

I'm really happy to see this story, because the Alice inclusion is one of the things I hope S3 does right. I kind of have doubts about it, but am looking forward to it.

You're getting me even more excited for S3!

[rm.livejournal.com]

I feel like even if they don't do it right, they won't give it enough time to ruin it, so we'll be able to work off of that for a while. I want to know all about her mother, what her relationship with Jack was, etc. I've not really done post-1950 historical Jack, but I might have to now.

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

I love the sense you've captured here of all the things they can say to each other -- and all the things they can't. In so many ways you portray an easy intimacy between them, yet there are still things that they're holding back, taboo subjects -- and both of them seem to know it.

Just one tiny nitpick:
Why the Jack likes it

Is there a word missing after "the"?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Typo (horrible, horrible, horrible typo) fixed.

And yeah, their relationship is very wonky, and what's sort of freaky is how long things like that can actually last. Given the life expectancy of Torchwood, I sort of think they grok that they don't necessarily have to do all their healthy relationship homework with each other, whcih is good, because I'm not sure they'd actually be capable.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

i LOVE it :D


"Ah."

Jack stops fidgeting with his cuff then and turns to smile at Ianto. Why the Jack likes it when he makes that noise of I-don't-know-what-to-say-realisation, he has no idea, but it's impossible not to smile back, even if it's awkward, even if Ianto will never quite get over the oddity of dressing side by side with him in the mornings.

this bit especially

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[alba17.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. Like this line: "he can't make Jack stop trying to wedge all their lives into either the habits of some normal mortal earth that has never actually existed or some colony not even yet to be."

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[blue-fjords.livejournal.com]

I liked the cadence of this, the stop and start and laughs and frowns. Ianto was deliciously Ianto. I loved him in this, awesome job!

My favorite bit:
He tosses his keys impatiently in his hand as he waits for Jack, who has stopped to open the refrigerator and drink orange juice straight from the carton. Again. Oddly, he suspects Jack does it to make him laugh and so Ianto does, before letting the silence return.

How often do we do things just to make our partner laugh? How weird are the things we do? How incredibly familiar are they with each other? I liked greatly.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And yes! My god, Patty and I have NO DIGNITY and while most of that does happen in public, the private oddities are even stranger and funnier and also more mundane.

[trektotorch.livejournal.com]

Very well written. Good job!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[lawsontl.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to parrot everyone really, because one of the things you do so well is one of the things everyone caught on. The cufflinks and shirt sleeves, a little detail, a bit of business, reveals so much without making a big fuss about itself. Your love of fine suits and your acting background both show themselves here!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was hoping it wasn't "oh and see, hey, look at that, I really wanted to write this sentence" so I'm glad it all felt small and understated.

[seether-79.livejournal.com]

Really wonderful!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I've been about as un-spoiled as one can be, but I'm quite ready for a bit of spoilage, and this is certainly spoiling me nicely. These sorts of things - families and lovers and children and stuff - are awkward enough when it isn't Jack involved. The cufflinks, what everybody else said. Yes.

Oh, I'm SO dying to see it, now.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! All the family stuff for both Ianto and Jack is one of the things that has me really excited for series 3

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Heh, I realized why this surprised me: the only other immortals I know are vampires and Highlander immies, and neither of them can have kids.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yup, and all my other Jack stuff has the kids dying young or not being present for that reason or whatever (also note, Boekind only seem to live about 60 years, canonically, while Boe keeps going and going), so this really throws a spanner into all sorts of issues in terms of how we write immortality in general and also into weird time-paradoxy Jack issues (which also make me wonder if he winds up having to sacrifice the grandson to save the world and knowing he has to in part to avoid paradox).

[takenatwork.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what I feel about this spoiler, it could be good or it could be hypocritical, but it will be fascinating to watch. I agree with the others, your characterisation is excellent and I like how it all fits into that short space of time between leaving the house and getting into the car, not a word too much, just right. Can I ask if you deliberately gave yourself only that much time or was that how it wrote itself?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And that was really just how the fic wrote itself. I've been interested in the issue of Jack's daughter and grandson since I heard the spoiler, and I was talking to xtricks how we weren't looking forward to spate of fics about that with Ianto sulking because Jack never told him, and I just dashed this off at work.

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

I like it, will be interested to see how close to the mark the writers are (because this is totally the truth, the canon may vary though)
Gxxx

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[ladymist.livejournal.com]

Ummm . . . did I miss something here? Who's Alice? Has Series 3 come out already?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Series 3 is not out yet. Who Alice is has been widely discussed in many interviews containing spoilers for Series 3. Since you're not yet spoiled and I'm not clear if you want to be, I'm refraining from telling you here.

[midasu.livejournal.com]

I love Ianto in this. Mature and understands Jack and understands his own life. I feel That he does know these things and accepts them.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you. There's a lot he has to be willing to let go, while also getting that Jack let's a lot of shit slide with him as well.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Lovely, thanks.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[qthelights.livejournal.com]

Damnit, I spoiled myself! But I just couldn't not read a fic of yours!

(and it was lovely btw *g*)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[misswinterhill.livejournal.com]

Oh, Ianto.

Lovely. Makes me want Season Three more than ever.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!