wanda1969 | "My Man Ianto" Chapter 3

Title: “My Man Ianto”
Author: wanda1969

Betaed by janiemc

Prompt: “My Man Godfrey” (1936)
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto. Other characters: Owen Harper, Rhys Williams, Donna Noble, John Hart
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Again, I can’t think of anything offensive in here...
Spoilers: Spoilers for the film My Man Godfrey- none for Torchwood that I can think of.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or My Man Godfrey, the plots and characters of which belong to their respective writers. I am just borrowing the characters and putting them in the film.

Summary: One night rich layabout Jack Harkness meets a young man down on his luck, and offers him the job of family butler....

If you haven’t seen the film and want to, it’s available on imdb My Man Godfrey

“My Man Ianto”

Chapter 3

The next couple of weeks were quite uneventful; even the Harknesses reduced their partying on a weekday. But Ianto still found himself trying to avoid Jack Harkness Jnr -and failing rather miserably; not only was he rather persistent, but he had an air of irresistibility about him. There was something about the way he would fix Ianto with those piercing blue eyes and a longing look...Ianto would be lying if he said that he wasn’t having difficulty stopping himself from just giving in, just wishing he’d met Jack under different circumstances. Ianto had maintained a pristine veneer of professionalism. He’d settled into a routine, and had managed to avoid a repeat performance of the first Sunday morning’s events, where he’d almost been unable to tear his eyes away from Jack, dishevelled and so obviously naked as he sat in his bed.

Jack however, had been relishing his role as a mentor. He’d tried talking to the Welshman at every opportunity, trying to fathom what on Earth could have caused him to end up living at Cardiff Dock. Ianto had managed to deflect most of the questions. There had even been a conversation where Jack had asked him why he lived there when there were so many nicer places to live.

“My doctor told me the sea air would be good for my asthma.”

“Really? Jack had said. “I’ve got an uncle with asthma...” Ianto had got the feeling that Jack just wasn’t used to his level of sarcasm...

It was a Saturday two weeks after he’d first arrived and Ianto had chosen a black pinstripe suit (God forbid that the Harknesses noticed that it was Armani, and well beyond his wages as a butler) and a deep maroon silk shirt, with a tie just a shade darker. He checked his appearance and stepped out of his rooms, only to bump straight into Jack.

The man stared at Ianto hesitantly- at least, Ianto thought, he knew it wasn’t proper to look at the butler that way. He knew it could be seen as taking advantage of the staff. But Jack couldn’t help but speak.

“’Morning Ianto...how are you doing today?”

“Fine, fine...Sir...”

“I think you’re settling in very well...”

“I’d like to think so...”

“Incidentally...I love the shirt, it suits you, Ianto...,” Jack said as he looked up at Ianto.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“You do know, Ianto, that you don’t have to call me Sir, don’t you? I am supposed to be your mentor, a friend. I’m supposed to get you back on track. We could even look into some kind of training, if you wanted to.”

Ianto smiled, Jack really was trying and the butler couldn’t help but think that the gesture was a sweet one. And Jack really did look cute, he thought as he stared at him. He found Jack staring back, and possibly standing just that little bit too close- so close that Ianto could smell the fresh scent of his shampoo. He found himself wishing that he’d met the Harkness son under different circumstances- perhaps at a club or party. And by the way that Jack was looking at him, he was obviously having very similar thoughts. At some point it was going to be hard to explain exactly what he was doing here, pretending to be a butler.

Ianto really was finding it hard to resist just leaning forward and...and then before he knew it, he wasn’t resisting at all, he and Jack were kissing, arms around one another. It was only a matter of seconds before the Welshman came to his senses and pulled away, blushing slightly and looking a little flustered.

“I’m sorry, Jack, I mean, Sir...I don’t think that was entirely appropriate behaviour for a butler” he said as he hastily moved away, trying to put as much distance between himself and the other man.

As he pulled back, Ianto was surprised to see Jack looking almost as embarrassed and unsure as he was feeling.

“I have to get the morning papers now, Sir,” The Welshman said excusing himself before setting out purposefully.

What neither man had seen was Gwen; feeling surprisingly clear headed for the weekend, she’d made her way downstairs looking for Ianto- in the last couple of she’d learned that his coffees were just the thing to provide her with all the energy needed to face the day. She’d tuned into the corridor to the kitchen, and had stopped in her tracks as she looked ahead as she saw her step brother and the butler, for goodness’ sake, looking at each other longingly, before kissing and falling into what could only be described as a passionate embrace.

Gwen knew it was irrational; she had Rhys, but her childhood resentment of her stepbrother kicked into play. She was jealous of Jack’s freedom and ability to float carelessly through life. More than that she found herself jealous that’d he’d brought that man, Ianto, here, with no questions asked by her parents (or at least very few) and now it turned out that Jack’s motives had been far from innocent. She did wonder how Jack could even have guessed how the young man would look after a wash and brush up- it was certainly an amazing transformation.

Never mind; what she’d just seen filled her with the belief that this situation just wasn’t right- either Jack was using Ianto or vice versa. Either way, she told herself, she had to put an end to the situation. The fact that she would finally be getting her revenge on both men- Jack for beating her at the Scavenger Hunt, and Ianto for helping him and making her fall into that puddle- hardly even entered her mind...

***

Ianto had spent the rest of the day getting ready for one of the family’s cocktail parties. He’d even helped John Hart arrange a display of some of his latest ‘paintings’ (including ‘Heaven’, ‘Hell’, ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Last Rites’) for the event. He and Donna had also set the large sideboard in the Drawing Room with drinks before they headed to the kitchen to collect the canapés.

When he returned to the drawing room guests had started to arrive, including the long-suffering Rhys. John was holding court as a small group of women admired ‘Heaven’, ‘Hell’, ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Last Rites’ , Mrs Harkness clearly pleased that her protégé was causing quite a stir.

Ianto made his way amongst the guests quietly offering out the canapés, but found that at every turn he seemed to find Jack smiling and taking yet another blini or piece of bruschetta. Having Jack follow his every move was becoming a little distracting, in more ways than one; he couldn’t deny that the son of the house was more than a little bit handsome, and he’d never been one to restrict his options on the romance front...but he was determined not to let his feelings get in the way of the job.

He was relieved to hear the doorbell, and rushed to answer it placing his tray on the sideboard.

The man who entered, overcoat on his arm, mumbled a perfunctory “Thanks” without even glancing at Ianto, a fact which comforted Ianto- he recognised the new guest. He followed the man who strode towards the party, hoping that he didn’t turn around to spot him. Mind you, when did anyone ever take notice of the help at a party like this?

“Owen! Good to see you! The GP business going well?” Jack greeted.

It was at that moment that the man, Owen, turned round, looking for someone to off-load his overcoat onto, and saw Ianto. His face broke into a wide grin.

“Ifan! Ianto! I’ve not seen you in years! How’re you doing?”

“You know Ianto- our butler?” Jack had heard the greeting even though he was a few yards away.

Owen laughed. “You must be joking! Ifan and me were at Oxford together! He’s not a butler.”

“I think you may be mistaking me for someone else...”

“Don’t be stupid...”

“Ooh, a butler with a degree!” Ianto’s heart sank- now Mrs Harkness was listening in.

“Oh, no, Mrs Harkness,” he started before Owen Harper could continue. “Ifan and Ianto are very common names in Wales. For that matter, so is Jones. And a lot of us Welsh do look the same.”

Mrs Harkness and her step son exchanged looks, and Ianto took his opportunity to whisper to him. “Owen, say you’re mistaken- I’ll explain it to you later. Please?”

Owen looked confused for a moment, before giving an almost imperceptible nod. “Now I come to think of it, my Ianto was quite a bit shorter. Sorry about that- not seen him in years. Easy mistake to make, I guess.”

Astonishingly, Owen’s explanation seemed plausible enough to the Harknesses, and the doctor drifted towards the main party while Ianto breathed a sigh of relief and carried on with his duties.

A couple of hours later the ‘butler’ was in the hallway heading towards the kitchen when he heard Owen’s voice behind him. “Ianto.”

Ianto turned speaking quietly. “Thanks for that, Owen!”

“What the hell is all of this about? And what are you doing working as a butler, for the Harknesses, of all people?”

“I can’t tell you right now, but give me a call,” he reached inside his jacket and scribbled down his telephone number and handed it to Harper. “We can meet up during the week, and I’ll explain everything, I promise. Just don’t say anything for the time being.”

“OK, OK. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be good,” Owen smiled and pocketed the slip of paper.

***

Ianto walked into the pub and ordered a pint of Brains, before looking around to see Owen sat at a small table, a pint in his hand. He handed the barmaid some change and took a swig of his pint, and headed over to join Dr Harper.

“How are you doing, Owen?” he said taking a seat.

“I’m fine; y’know, healing the sick, helping the needy. A pity I have to actually see the patients...Anyway, that’s all pretty uninteresting. What IS interesting is what the hell you’re doing working as a bloody butler? You just dropped off the radar a couple of years ago, and now I find you as hired help, while your parents are telling everyone you’re doing volunteer work in Africa!”

Ianto laughed. “Well, a bit of a long story...”

“I’m not back at the practice today- I’ve got time. In fact, I’m looking forward to hearing this one...”

“Ok! I’ll start at the beginning. After I split up with Lisa, I kind of found myself doing the usual round of parties- you know the crap. I started to wonder what I was doing; you can’t just live off family money all the time. Anyhow I thought I might do something I wanted to do. So I just walked out- met up with some old friends, found a flat, started to play the guitar again. We started gigging, doing the club circuit...”

“That figures- you always did like performing.”

“Yeah. It’s all I ever really wanted to do, but dad didn’t think it was a dignified career...anyway, we were doing well. Then one of the guys, started drinking a bit too much. Not good for our bookings. Next thing I know, he’s been thrown out by his girlfriend, starts hanging around with some smackhead. Before you know it, it was a downward spiral. Ended up living rough down by the docks. I’d go and see him every so often, try to make him see sense, but by then he just wouldn’t see sense. Anyway, I thought I’d give it one last go, so I went to see him down there on Friday night. He was out of it. He just wouldn’t listen- I was even willing to pay for rehab.”

“There’s a point, Ianto, when they just won’t see sense. People will only change their ways when they’re ready...”

“Yup, that’s about the top and bottom of it. He passed out and I was just sitting there on a crate, wondering what to do and these two cars pulled up. The first person out was Gwen Harkness. She just assumed I lived there and I’d go along with her bloody Scavenger Hunt for twenty quid! I’m not sure what was worse, her assumptions about me, or the fact that I obviously looked so shit she thought I was a down and out!” he said grinning.

Owen laughed. “She can be a bit of a spoilt brat- and I speak from experience!”

“Oh, no, Owen- surely not...?”

“We all make mistakes- and it was before Toshiko. I’d like to say it was before Rhys, too, but you know how it is; I was going through a bit of a bad patch. I’m well out of that now.”

“Well, who would have thought...” Ianto was speechless for a moment, before he continued. “Anyway, that’s when Jack arrived. I thought he was a bit of an airhead, but kind of cute. In comparison to Gwen he was a bit of a sweetheart- actually seemed interested in me. So I thought I’d go with him and help him win the hunt. And then when we were over at St David’s he asked me to come and work for them, said he wanted to help me. I couldn’t resist- he just looked so sincere, and I thought it would be a bit of fun. So there you have it. I haven’t told them who I am and I don’t really want to be caught out lying at the moment.”

“I should have known, there’d be some guy or girl involved. Jack Harkness, eh? I know what you mean, though- he does come across as a bit of an airhead, but I’ve worked with him on a lot of the hospital fundraising committees. He just needs something to focus his mind on, and judging from the way he was looking at you on Sunday, you may well be what he’s focussing on right now.” Owen could hardly contain his amusement as he shook his head. “Pretending to be a butler just ‘cause a good looking guy comes along!”

“It’s not funny, Owen! And now I’m stuck working as a butler, not quite sure how to tell them the truth!”

Owen was laughing his head off. “You’ve really got to keep me posted on this! Jack! Although I think you may have picked on the right type of bloke there- I’ve always heard he’s open minded about who he’ll shag as long as they’re good-looking enough... ”

Ianto groaned and lent forward, cradling his head in his hands. “Tell me about it- we kissed...and I’m not sure how long I can keep away from him. He just keeps popping up all over the house, ringing for coffee- or anything. And he keeps talking to me...”

“Jesus! He’s smitten! This just keeps getting better and better!” Owen failed at this point to contain his amusement and started to laugh uncontrollably.

When, eventually, the doctor’s laughter died down, the other man rolled his eyes; he certainly wasn’t going to tell him that he had started to realise he was was smitten with Jack.

“Yeah, yeah...I don’t want to even think about it, so tell me how you and Tosh are doing, to keep my mind off how I’m going to get out of this.”

The rest of their meeting was spent chatting about old times and Owen’s recent engagement to their old friend Toshiko, until the landlord shouted ‘time’. The two men left agreeing to meet up again

***

"My Man Ianto" Chapter 3

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