kollo_rpg | Summer 20 | Action

Well, if anything, Jack does know how to treat a guy (when he remembers to try). And yes, definitely just the two of them for now. He's going to have to work up to all three again, even if he is very much looking forward to getting there again!

He lets go of the oars for a minute to take his beer with a smile of thanks, and chuckles. "Disappointed?" he asks, his eyes gleaming.

“Hardly. It’s just an excuse for me to surprise you in the future.” Something else to work up to. They’ve played around quite a bit in five years but they aren’t there right now and that’s a level of trust they both need to reestablish before introducing anything else into things.

“I told Spike about what happened and why you’re here.” An obvious change in conversation even if he keeps his tone light. “I figured you’d want to know.”

"Heh, I'll look forward to that, then!" he promises, lifting his bottle in a toast and then taking a long drink. He's not really expecting very much in the immediate future, but that's not going to stop him looking forward to any fun that lies ahead!

He sobers when Ianto speaks again, and puts the beer down and takes hold of the oars again, perhaps as a distraction, although it's not as hard as he might once have thought to keep his eyes on Ianto at this news. He nods slowly. "Thanks. I really do appreciate that. I know I need to talk to him myself as well, but... well. It's easier if he at least knows the basics."

“He’ll be there when you need him,” This isn’t a subject Ianto plans on dwelling on, not unless Jack desperately wants to. He needed to know about Spike and where they all stand but after pouring his soul out the other day he suspects Jack wants something more lighthearted. The picnic and rowboat were pretty obvious clues of that.

So he takes a sip of his drink and changes the subject with a smile to let Jack know he’s aware of what he’s doing here. “Have you been swimming much here, or is the water too cold?”

He smiles, softly. "I know." He's far more grateful to have Spike around than he ever would have thought, once upon a time. Spike has a way of seeing things clearly when he can't, and that's a knack he really appreciates.

But yes, he is very definitely about lighthearted fun and romance today and so he lets the subject go, grateful to Ianto for bringing it up, but also grateful to him for not making a big thing about it.

He inclines his head. "Not as much as I'd intended to, actually. Been moping a bit too much, I guess. But it's not that cold. A little nippy but..." He grins. "You know me. Thick skinned! I can take it."

“So you won’t hate me too much for this?” Ianto asks innocently as he leans closer, not for a kiss but an abrupt shove, light enough for Jack to resist if he’s quick on his feet but sudden enough to tip him out of the boat and into the water if he isn’t.

Okay, he's got good reactions but that takes him completely by surprise and although he grabs at the oars it's too late and his hands slip off with the momentum of the push. He goes over into the water (with a big enough splash that he certainly won't be the only one getting wet from this) and surfaces, gasping, a few feet away. He swims deftly back to the boat and grabs onto the side, panting.

"Hey! What was that for?!?"

((OOC: Sorry for the slow - rough (and busy!) couple of days!))

If he’s being honest Ianto hadn’t actually expected that to work and let’s out a short, surprised laugh as Jack topples over the side. He doesn’t really bother fighting it back as he surfaces, but he does lean out over the side to offer him a hand. “You seemed like you could use a bit of incentive since you haven’t done much swimming. Or maybe I just thought it would be funny to watch.”

((No worries! Hope it’s all ok!))

He shakes his head and takes Ianto's hand to help haul himself back up into the boat. (He briefly contemplates using said hand to pull Ianto over too, but he knows how much harder it is to get back into a boat that hasn't got someone's weight holding it steady without tipping the boat itself over, and he'd rather keep his lunch dry!)

He humphs a bit as he pulls off his boots to empty out the water and then shakes his head vigorously to dry his hair off, liberally spattering water over Ianto as he does.

"I generally prefer not to be wearing quite so many clothes when I go swimming, Ianto," he says drolly, apparently not holding any grudges.

Or perhaps just not giving in to them yet.

((OOC: Yeah, all good now!))

He accepts the splashing without complaint, pulling Jack back into the boat and fighting back another laugh. It’s not often he does his sort of thing, but he does have his occasional mischievous side.

“Shall I help you remove them?” Don’t say he doesn’t know how to play a long game. He’s certainly happy to use the confined space of the boat to stay pressed against him in the name of helping get warm, even if he ends up rather soggy in the process.

Truth be told, it actually feels really good to be seeing Ianto's mischievous side again. It definitely feels like another step up in feeling at ease with each other!

He laughs, and settles in against Ianto, willingly accepting the offer of bodily contact. "Nah, for once I think I'll stay dressed." Especially because trying to remove wet clothing in a tiny, rocking boat sounds like a recipe for disaster!

"I'll be okay if I can just share your warmth," he says comfortably, snuggling in. To be fair, it's not cold, though without much sunshine it might take a while for his clothes to dry off altogether.

Having such an emotional reunion the other day does make it feel easier to relax now. They’re not where they were, not by a long shot but they’re miles better than when they arrived here in terms of where they stand with each other.

He wraps an arm around Jack, happy for the comfort even if it’s wet - not that he has anyone to blame but himself. He offers Jack a sip from his drink by way of apology. “I’ll do my best to warm you up. Or to find some other way to make it up to you.”

"Thanks," he says, accepting the beer and taking a long swallow. Not that it helps dry him, but it does help neutralise the taste of sea water in his mouth!

And then he quirks an eyebrow, twisting round to smirk at Ianto. "Oh yeah? And just how might you do that?"

Somehow even with all the fuss he doubts Jack is truely complaining. Some of the happiest times he’s seen him have been around the sea. It always seems like where he belongs in one way or another, even if it’s the cold, gray waters around Cardiff.

“For starters perhaps I could organize the next picnic.” An innocent suggestion that they both know isn’t what he meant by the offer to make it up to him at all.

Yeah, he's really not too bothered. Okay, he's wearing wet clothes, but he's snuggled up with one of his very favourite people, laughing and having fun, out on the ocean with the waves lapping around them. Yeah, really not upset.

"Well, that's a start, I suppose," he says playfully, angling for more. "I think I'll need a little more than that to make it up to me, though!"

“I’ll make a list of suggestions for it, shall I?” They both know how much he loves his lists. It’s been a long time since he spent his days deep in the Torchwood archives trying to keep things organized but some things never change.

He moves away only long enough to snag the picnic basket and pull it closer to rummage through and see what Jack has brought along with him. “Of course I’ll take any suggestions you have into account as well.”

"I'll have to see what I can come up with," he smirks, taking another drink from Ianto's beer bottle, because his own is all the way over there (two feet away) and he figures Ianto owes him beer after shoving him into the sea!

The basket reveals various foodstuffs wrapped in paper - ham sandwiches, cheese, fruit cake - as well as apples, grapes and more beer, fairly basic fare but all fresh and delicious and looking like a feast right now.

"Mmm, pass me a sandwich, will you? I'm starving after all that rowing - and swimming!"

All thirty seconds of it.

“Oh you poor thing,” That perfect sarcasm he’s so good at. He pulls a sandwich free of the basket and hands it over before rummaging around for one of his own.

“I must say, this really is quite romantic, even with my actions taken into account. You’ve outdone yourself, Jack.” He forgets when he’s away how powerfully charming Jack is. It’s like a physical force, so utterly overpowering and irresistible in the best way possible when he turns it on. He’s been completly enthralled by it from that first night they met, back when it was terrifying and overwhelming. By now he’s learned to love it and how it makes him feel to be the focus of all that. He’s missed it so damn much. Impulsively he leans in to kiss him, fingers splayed across the wet fabric of his blue shirt, trying to convey how happy he is in this moment.

"Yeah, would have been more romantic if I wasn't sopping wet!" he chides playfully, but he's not really complaining because it really is a good excuse to cuddle up to Ianto. Similarly, he could be offended by Ianto's surprise, because after all he does know how to romance someone, but he knows he forgets to put it into practice in his long-term relationships and, anyway, it's rather nice being able to surprise him, still.

So he just smiles at Ianto's compliments, and leans in willingly for his kiss, happy and content. He doesn't try to deepen the kiss particularly, because they're in the middle of eating and, anyway, he wants to try and prove (as he's been challenged to before) that he can give someone a nice time without it always leading to sex! But he does take his time with the kiss, enjoying the taste and feel of Ianto, the connection that's still there between them, however much time has gone by.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed you,” Ianto murmurs, breaking away from the kiss but still staying close, leaning comfortably against him. His tone is more fond than sad; right now he’s just happy to have Jack back in his life, plain and simple as that. Any unhappiness or loneliness from their reconnection the other day seems to have vanished in the sunlight. “Just being with you. Thank you for this.”

"Yeah," he breathes, very happy to stay close as they eat. "I really didn't realise how much I was missing you." He lets out a huff of laughter. "Kinda like the reverse of 'don't know what you've got till it's gone' - I didn't realise till I had it back again! I'm so glad we all ended up here together, even if it wasn't what I was intending."

What he'd been intending was trying to get himself back together again before heading home to Ianto. This was definitely working out much better!

“Funny how it that worked out.” Jack wasn’t the only one trying g to get himself together here. The decision to turn him obviously involves all three of them but he and Spike are the ones who will be directly involved. It felt appropriate that they were taking this time together here but now he’s glad to have Jack back in their lives. This feels easier to face with him around. Jack has always had a way of making him feel brave. “I don’t believe in fate, but you’ve got to admit it’s quite a coincidence.”

"It is, isn't it?" he agrees thoughtfully, musing a moment as he munches on his sandwich and washes it down with a good slug of beer.

"Makes you wonder, really. Just who it is behind this whole venture, who know so much about us all, know just what we need and when we need it. If they knew we each needed somewhere like this, who's to say they didn't deliberately get us here at the same time too?"

“Isn’t that a bit paranoid, even for you?” Alright there are a great deal of coincidences and odd details that Jack just listed off but not every place the three of them end up has to be sinister or even. They’ve been to plenty of present locations in the past.

"You think?" He considers a moment and then shrugs, smiling. "Perhaps a little." He twists round a bit to see him. "But doesn't it make you wonder? Even a bit? What's going on with this place, who's behind it all?"

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