"Come Fly With Me" Chapter 16
Jan. 6th, 2011 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wanda1969Title: "Come Fly With Me"
Rating: PG this one
Spoilers/Disclaimers : Torchwood, belongs to the BBC and RTD, I’m just borrowing the characters- I own nothing here, nor do I make any money! So please don't prosecute!
Summary: Torchwood characters in a story set in the glamorous world of international travel! Fluffy, romantic and cheesy in the extreme, I suspect!
A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I’d just like to thank everyone who’s been reading this and commenting. Sorry I haven’t posted/responded recently; I’ve had ‘flu and a pay and grading review. For info: all destinations and cocktails in this exist! You can even look up photos of the bar. Corrections and criticism welcomed- my head’s a bit fuzzy.
Chapter list: http://wanda1969.dreamwidth.org/1863.html
Chapter 16
***
Christmas was fast approaching, a fact that Ianto was starting to both look forward to and dread in equal measure. Although he and Jack had several days off, he knew he’d be expected to return home to Wales to visit his mother and his older sister, Rhiannon and her family. Much as he loved his relatives, the thought of being away from Jack wasn’t an appealing one- especially as he knew that Jack would be spending the time alone, or if he was lucky perhaps he might be able to catch up with friends. Either way, he’d be away from the other man when all he really wanted was a weekend relaxing (in bed, hopefully) with his lover.
Ianto had thought about asking Jack to go with him to Wales, but he just wasn’t sure he was ready to ‘come out’ to his family. For a start he didn’t know where the entire relationship was going; the two men had only been seeing each other for a few months, and it wouldn’t exactly do for him to go through all the explanations for the relationship, if for some reason it was all over with in the New Year. Or whether Jack would want to go with him anyway, or even if he was ready for the whole ‘meet the family’ experience. And it wasn’t even as if he was gay, anyway. It all probably would have been easier to explain if he was. Instead, he’d have to explain that, no, he just happened to be seeing a man, and as far as he was aware, no, he wasn’t interested in other men and never had been. And then there was Johnny, Rhiannon’s husband. Johnny wasn’t the most reconstructed of men, and any revelation about him and Jack was sure to be greeted with some kind of inappropriate remark.
He’d brought up the subject with Jack, trying his best not to sound as if he was embarrassed by their relationship- because he certainly wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed- especially after Jack had made such an effort to introduce Ianto to his own friends. Luckily Jack seemed to understand with the wisdom of a man who’d perhaps experienced the same confusion and doubts, even if he looked a little disappointed that Ianto and he wouldn’t be seeing each other at Christmas.
***
TIA were opening up several new routes in the Far East- Cambodia, Vietnam and hopefully, later in 2011, Vientiane and Laos. Captain Jack Harkness and Owen Harper were some of the most experienced and well travelled pilots working for the company and they and their crew had been chosen to be the first Torchwood staff to fly on the new schedules.
Ianto had grown to love Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and his usual long-haul destinations, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was excited at the rotation of the crews’ flights. Being part of a flight crew was just a job, but any change certainly made that job a lot more interesting and gave him the opportunity of spending his stop-over time in a new country, seeing new sights.
***
The crew had been booked into The Raffles Le Royal, an attractive colonial hotel in the centre of Phnom Penh. In fact, it was arguably the best hotel in the capital. They’d all caught up on some sleep in the afternoon and were meeting for drinks in the hotel’s bar. Jack had been to Cambodia only once before, and Ianto had wanted the two of them to go out for dinner and explore the city together. He was pacified by the fact that they had another night there and the crew would be working on the Indochina routes for the foreseeable future.
Ianto walked in to the hotel’s Elephant Bar half an hour early to meet Jack before the rest of the team turned up. He’d stayed in some pretty impressive places during his time with Torchwood but now he was rested he could see that The Raffles Le Royal was a notch up from most of them. It wasn’t ostentatious, but had an almost untouched and timeless charm, full of antique teak furniture and palms. The bar was similarly decorated, and he could almost imagine some of the hotel’s famous guests- Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Malraux and Jacqueline Kennedy had stayed there over the years- sitting there, enjoying a cocktail before dinner. Instead, a small group of ex-pats sat at the bar and Jack was sat in a wicker chair over near the shuttered, arched windows which lead out onto a terrace. He walked over to join Jack and, from seemingly nowhere, an impeccably mannered barman appeared to take their drinks order.
“You look impressed?”
Ianto gazed around, smiling. “Yep. I think I’m going to like the new routes.”
“And we’ve still not done Vietnam, yet- not that I remember much. Just fabulous coffee and French pastries. Only ever stayed for two nights.”
“You know me, Jack- you’d got me on the coffee and pastries…” Ianto took a drink from the glass that had appeared, as if by magic, on the bar table. “And isn’t there anywhere you’ve never been?” he teased.
“Oh, yeah- most of Central Africa, Pyongyang, the ‘stans...”
The two men sipped at their drinks, revelling in the time they had alone before their colleagues arrived. The half hour flew by far too quickly, and they were soon joined by Diane and Owen, just before the rest of the crew appeared in dribs and drabs. Their appearance together confirmed both mens’ suspicions- whatever had been going on with Gwen was well and truly over; Owen was totally infatuated with Diane, and her intelligence and commitment to her pilot’s license had only increased his fascination with her.
Ianto was pleased that Toshiko arrived before Gwen, taking the last available seat close to Jack and himself. Gwen had been a worry to the air steward- she was taking the fact that Owen was besotted with Diane badly and was now setting her sights firmly on Jack. Whether it was an attempt to make Owen jealous, or a new infatuation, Ianto wasn’t sure; what he did know was that it infuriated him, since she took every opportunity to inform the rest of them about arrangements for her forthcoming wedding and how much Rhys meant to her.
Gwen eventually arrived, having clearly taken some time over her appearance and wore her dark hair up and well-fitting trousers and a low cut green t-shirt. As she approached the group of work-mates, Ianto saw her flash a look of undisguised irritation towards Owen and Diane, before pausing and letting her eyes settle on Jack. The next moment she was pulling one of the wicker chairs from an empty table and squeezing it into a small gap between Jack and Martha.
Half an hour later, Gwen was still ensconced in her chair next to Jack, and Ianto again found himself talking to the Japanese woman.
“This place is amazing, Tosh. Even Jackie Kennedy’s stayed here…” he said looking around.
“I know,” she laughed. “You do know there’s a cocktail that she drank? The Rouge Champagne? I think it’d be rude for us to not try it…”
“Go on then, we’ll have one next!”
The Rouge Champagne turned out to be very easy on the taste buds- as well as being a potent mix- and the two were chatting even more amiably than usual by the time they were onto their second round.
“So, what are you doing for Christmas, Ianto?”
“The usual kind of stuff- I’ll be going back to Wales to see the family. Not seen them for almost a year now, what with starting the new job and everything. How about you?”
“Well, I was hoping to get back to Japan for a visit, but with the schedules I just won’t be able to fit it in. It’s not that big a deal, though- I mean it’s not really that important over there. We make an effort, a tree, presents and everything but it doesn’t really mean the same thing over there. I’ll book some time off in the New Year instead.”
“Seems silly, doesn’t it?” Ianto said, taking another sip. “We spend half of our time on this side of the world and you can’t get over to Japan for Christmas!”
“I know! So near, but so far away…” she laughed. “Anyway, you going back to Wales… are you going to be introducing the ‘mystery woman’ to the family? I assume you’re still seeing her? You’ve still got that dreamy look about you.”
Ianto almost spluttered a little bit. Toshiko hadn’t talked about his ‘mystery woman’ for some time now, and he’d almost forgotten that she was laboring under the misapprehension that he had a girlfriend.
“No, no. I’m making sure that this one’s staying around before I go that far. And it’s still only a few months yet…”
“And how long is it going to take you to be sure…?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Tosh,” he replied honestly. He wasn’t sure when he was going to tell his family about Jack if they carried on seeing each other. “I guess I’ll just know… Anyway, enough about my personal life- how about just one more of these Rouge Champagne things?”
He stood to go to the bar, and looked over to see Jack still valiantly talking with Gwen.
Jack was inwardly cursing his co-pilot for finishing with Gwen; since the affair had ended, the Welshwoman had become fixated on him. For close to an hour now she’d monopolized his time- and the conversation. He usually prided himself on keeping up with his crew on evenings out like this, but with Gwen’s constant attentions this was becoming increasingly difficult.
***
Jack took a sip to his coffee as Ianto left the cockpit.
“Perfect- as usual.” He sighed sinking back into his seat as the auto-pilot took over. After the first night in Phnom Penh, Jack had resolved to avoid crew drinks, and therefore Gwen, the next night. Instead, he and Ianto had walked round some of the sights of the city, armed with a Lonely Planet guidebook. In the late morning they’d walked around the city before the heat became too oppressive and they’d found the National Gallery, figuring that the Khmer statues there would be the closest they’d get to the temples at Angkor for the foreseeable future. Using the excuse that they both needed a relaxing treat after the night before, Jack insisted on having dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club. The description in the guide book promised colonial old world charm, and neither of them was disappointed.
***
Jack felt surprisingly relaxed as he looked out of the cockpit windows thinking of the previous day. He looked over at his co-pilot, who was looking unusually content.
“Looks like things are going well with Diane, then, Owen?”
Owen looked round. “Ah, I wondered when you were going to ask about… that.”
“Well, I do have to say you’re not the most subtle person I know, Owen.”
The co-pilot laughed. “I guess not!”
“And it’s all over with Gwen, by the look of it?” Jack asked.
“God, yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking of. Well, I do- I was feeling sorry for myself. It was close to Katie’s birthday…” Owen sighed and took a large mouthful of his coffee.
“Owen…”
“I know, I know, Jack. I just felt lonely, had a few drinks and, well- Gwen was more than available. If I’d only started to really see Diane before then- she’s so confident, so committed to her flying, and gorgeous as hell- she’s my perfect woman. She loves flying; she’s been wasted in that job… Gwen and me were never gonna work. She’s engaged, for a start. And she never stops talking – Jeez!”
It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “Tell me about it- are you sure you don’t want to get back with her? She’s been homing in on me instead the last few weeks…”
“No way- I’m not going back there. Deal with it, Jack- you’re big enough- and old enough- to be able to deal with Gwen!”
“OK, OK- but she’s relentless! Says Rhys doesn’t understand her…”
“Oh-you’re getting the full treatment! Tell me about it…”
“Mmm.”
“Anyway, don’t know what you’re moaning about- what’s going on with you? You’re still looking like the cat that got the cream.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Yes- well. That may well be the case. But I’m still taking it slow. And I really don’t know whether I can deal with the full Gwen effect…”
“Who can?” It was Owen’s turn to laugh. “I do hope you realize that I’m not going to give up until I find out who’s putting that smile on your face.”
“Do your best, Harper. Do your best!”
***
To Be Continued…
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 08:24 pm (UTC)If Gwen had any sense, she'd have noticed by now that Jack really isn't interested. She seems to be under the mistaken impression that anyone she sets her sight on will automatically be interested in her. She needs to grow up and focus on the man she's preparing to marry. Either that or let Rhys free is she's not going to stay faithful to him.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:14 pm (UTC)Your description of Gwen reminds me precisely of the TV series (but Jack was mildly interested there). For a woman about to get married she was always easily distracted- even on her wedding day!!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-06 11:25 pm (UTC)Do feel bad for Jack, getting the full Gwen treatment. And Tosh and Owen...if they only compared notes, they might actually figure things out...
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:17 pm (UTC)And it's only a matter of time before 2+2 equal 4...
Thanks again!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:19 pm (UTC)And let's see about the Christmas thing!
Cheers!
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:40 pm (UTC)Glad to see the update and loved the descriptions of the places they stay at and see. Gwen is being a right so and so I hope Jack puts her in her place and soon. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 06:48 pm (UTC)Soon, Gwen, soon...!
Keep Well!
x
PS Here's the hotel: http://www.raffles.com/EN_RA/Property/RLR/
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 08:13 pm (UTC)Another fantastic chapter :)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 09:07 pm (UTC)Jack and Ianto's secret relationship is rather amusing to read about, because, the team haven't made the connections that both J&I are grinning like the cat that got the cream...and love Tosh's thoughts that it's a Women:p
no subject
Date: 2011-01-07 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-19 11:16 pm (UTC)