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Title: Girl Talk 

Pairing: Jack/Ianto (discussed), Ianto/Gwen (friendship)

Rating: Teen – some adult concepts.

Spoilers: Up to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Summary: Ianto and Gwen talk.

Disclaimers: I own nothing.

Notes. Comments please!

 

“So…what’s Jack really like?” asked Gwen, leaning over Ianto’s desk and whispering coyly. “You know, in private?” She flushed a little.

Ianto flushed too, unsure of exactly how to answer the question, “Erm, why do you want to know?”

“I dunno. I’m just curious. Come on, Ianto, haven’t you ever heard of girl talk?”

He gave her a look. “Heard of it. Yes. Partaken of it. No, being that I happen to be a man.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Just because I’m…involved with a man now, that doesn’t mean I’m a girl suddenly.”

“I know but…” She sighed pathetically. “This is not how this conversation was supposed to go.”

“I think possibly this conversation was never meant to happen.” He stood, picked up several folders and walked away, holding himself stiffly and leaving her standing there with her mouth open.

                                                 * * *

Gwen carefully avoided Ianto for the rest of the afternoon. He didn’t show any signs of being upset but that was Ianto. He didn’t show his feelings easily. He was quiet, but then he’d been ever so quiet ever since Jack had gone.

It was a quiet day. The days always seemed to be a lot quieter now that Jack wasn’t around. Owen was more than keen to head off the second it turned five and Tosh followed soon after. Ianto, as usual, was still working away.

“Staying a while, Ianto?” Gwen asked.

Ianto glanced up at her, then quickly back down to his work, his ears turning slightly red. “I’ve got a lot to do.”

She hesitated, then rested her arms on his desk so she could see his face. “Ianto…about before…”

He stood up and moved away. “Don’t.”

Gwen bit her lip as she watched him. He’d turned away from her and was standing stiffly at his computer staring at it. She’d really upset him.

“Ianto…” she began, wondering how to approach apologising to him.

But before she could begin, he turned and looked at her.

“I’m sorry for biting your head off. It’s just…Jack’s…”

“A sensitive topic?”

He smiled. “Yeah. Exactly.” He sighed. “Duw, I need a coffee.”

 She grinned. “Me too.”

He smiled faintly, then slid over to the coffee machine and put it into action. Gwen perched on the bottom step and watched him.

“Do you miss him?” she asked. “I do.”

Ianto looked down at his perfectly polished black shoes. “Yeah, I do.” He looked away and frowned hard at the coffee machine. “I know that’s kind of pathetic.”

“No it isn’t. I’m sure he misses you too.”

“I doubt it.”

“Ianto…”

Ianto turned away and fiddled with the coffee machine. “The thing about Jack is…that you can’t tie him down.” His cheeks turned pink and he smiled vaguely. “Well, you can to a bed…or a ladder or…”

“A ladder?!”

Ianto let out a noise which was almost a giggle. “There are some rather useful pieces of equipment in his bedroom.”

Gwen smirked. “I bet.”

Ianto git a dreamy smile on his face as he poured the coffee. “Yeah.” He passed Gwen her coffee, then sat down on the step beside her clutching his own cup.”

“I didn’t predict this,” he said. “I never thought…”

“That you’d end up with a man?”

“That I’d end up with anyone apart from Lisa. That I’d find…happiness again after Lisa.”

Gwen watched his face, though he wasn’t looking at her. “So, you are happy with Jack?”

A smile took over his face. “Yeah.” He glanced at her and his grin widened. There was a light in his eyes which made her smile.

“He really does make me happy.”

Gwen took his arm. “Good. I’m glad.”

Ianto put his coffee down on the floor and held her hand as it looped his arm.

“You wanted to know what he’s like in private?”

She smiled. “Only if you want to tell me.”

Ianto’s eyes slid away slightly, like he was picturing Jack. “He’s…still Jack. He’s loud. He’s confident. He’s cheeky. But…alone…he shows me this other side of him. He’s…gentle and loving and…vulnerable.”

“He is?”

Ianto nodded. “You know…that look he gets in his eyes when we find something new and exciting? Like a kid at Christmas.”

Gwen smiled fondly. “The wide eyes, the giddiness.”

Ianto chuckled. “Yeah. Well, he’s like that in private too, except…sometimes he seems so young and scared and…I just want to protect him, when he lets me.”

They both smiled.

“I bet that’s not very often,” Gwen said.

“The truth is, it seems to be a constant fight between us over who needs to protect the other.”

“Typical blokes,” said Gwen with a playful roll of her eyes.

He grinned. “Oh yeah, and believe me, we do our fair share of macho posturing, which is way I’m definitely not partaking of ‘girl talk’,” he said dryly.

Gwen grinned, then straightened her face into a deliberately sober expression. “Of course not.”

Their eyes twinkled at each other. There was silence for a few minutes and they both sipped their coffee.

“Ianto?” Gwen whispered, flushing again. “Is all his…bragging about…you know…sex…is that true?”

Ianto grinned. “Every word.”

Gwen gasped. “Really?”

He nodded, beaming. “Oh yeah. His skills in bed are something to brag about. His manners in bed however…”

“Yes?” Gwen asked eagerly.

Ianto swallowed the last of his coffee, then stood and rinsed his cup. Gwen stood, her coffee forgotten and tugged on his arm.

“Oh, go on, Ianto, tell me. Please,” she begged.

His mouth twitched into a little smile. “His manners…”

“Yes?”

“They’re atrocious. And that, Gwen, is all the ‘girl talk’ you’re getting from me today.”

Gwen laughed. “Fair enough.” She poured away her now cold coffee and rinsed her cup. He smiled approvingly.

She watched him put away the clean cups and start to wipe round with a damp cloth. Despite the jokes and the smiles, she could see a sadness in him. He missed Jack. They all did.

She put her hand on his back. “Jack’ll come back, Ianto.”

Ianto shrugged. “Maybe.”

“He’ll be back. We’re his team. He won’t abandon us.”

“He already has, Gwen. That’s why he’s not here. He’s found someone he’d much rather be with.” His voice was hard with hurt.

Gwen didn’t know what to say. There was such hurt in Ianto’s eyes. Anger at Jack roared inside her. How could he leave Ianto like this? How could he leave them all? Didn’t he care? And Ianto yet still spoke so fondly of him.  They all loved him and they couldn’t stop loving him. They would forgive him. They always did.

But when Jack came back, whenever that was, he would have a lot to answer for, and a lot to make up for, especially to Ianto.

Gwen knew there was nothing for her to say. She couldn’t make it all better, much as she wished to, if just to make those eyes sparkle again.

“Uh, this sucks,” she murmured.

Ianto let out a dry chuckle. “Yeah, it does. And not in the good way.”

“Oh, Ianto,” she said and threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Ianto stiffened, startled to be hugged by her, but then he relaxed and hugged her back, pressing his face into her shoulder and holding her tight.

“Why did he have to leave?” he asked, knowing she couldn’t give him an answer.

He sniffed a little, trying really hard not to cry. “He’s going to be in so much trouble when he comes back.”

Gwen smiled at the ‘when’. “Oh yeah. You and me, Ianto, we’re going to give him a good kicking.”

He made a noise half way between a laugh and a cry. “It’s date.” He pulled away. “On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t ever tell Jack we had girl talk.”

 

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