contentTitle: Bestmates
Author: 
Fandom: Torchwood!!
Characters: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Short but Janto is Janto
Read at my LJ: http://vivivolkov.livejournal.com/1606.html
***
Ianto and Lisa were just finishing their pizzas when Ianto realized that he had paid for both meals. This wasn't unusual for dates he thought, but he could not help but be a little surprised that he was upset by it. He knew it was not the money part that upset him, but the idea of paying for both meals, like he was some sort of bread bearer. It was weird. He knew he should enjoy paying for her, that it made him seem manly, or something, but he only felt odd. It was like paying for a younger sibling or a dog or an old person. It irritated him more than he thought possible.
He was reminded of his pre-dates with Jack. Jack again. Ever since their first pre-date, they got into the habit of paying for each other's order. The first time was a mistake, but it soon became a tradition to pay for each other's food. He liked that. It was all very equal. No one had some sort of power over the other. There were no implications of needed gratitude in return and they still had the feeling of pleasantness that resulted from paying for someone else.
He looked up into Lisa's mocha chocolate face. She was beautiful from tip to root, but Ianto could not help but wish it was Jack sitting there or rather not there but closer to him. He felt sick with himself for being so insensitive. Here he was using Lisa as a rebound or whatever, since he and Jack never really dated. He was disgusted that he could use someone so easily. He was leading her on when she should be out there dating someone who was really interested in her as more than a friend.
It took Ianto a while, but he came to the conclusion that he really was not all that attracted to her. Of course he knew a beauty when he saw one, but that did not mean he fantasized about her. No, he just liked fresh company. He really did not have that many close friends other than Jack, Toshiko, Owen, and Gwen, and he really just wanted someone with a new perspective to stretch his mind.
"Hey, Ianto, you alright?" Lisa asked, concerned at his contorted face.
"Hmm? Oh, no. No, I feel a little sick." Not exactly a lie, he was sick with himself.
"Do you still want to go for that movie?"
"I'm sorry. Would you hate me if I ditched?"
"No, no. That's alright. Pizza was nice and the conversation was amazing. I've not talked to anyone like I have with you."
"You should hang out with the crew sometime, then. Conversations get pretty heated. It'd be nice to have a new brain thrown into the feuds." Ianto smiled as he helped Lisa into her jacket, as they were leaving.
Outside he opened the car door for her like Jack would for him or he for Jack. Who ever got to the car first or whoever was driving would open the door for the other. It was another one of their little habits. He liked it. He did not mind opening the door for Lisa, but it felt different. It felt expected and unappreciated. Well, not unappreciated per say, but he knew she would never open the door for him.
It just wasn't how girls were brought up to act. They were the princesses, men were their princes; they are to treat the girls as such and no less. He despised that notion. In his mind, everyone should be treated like princesses by others. People opening doors for each other, paying for each other, pampering each other. He knew he would like to get pampered. Nothing 'gay' but a massage would be nice, a spa treatment. Men in Greece used to bathe all the time and that was the usual. When did women become these creatures that mated with whomever would provide the most comfort? What about the man? Who takes care of him?
Jack always did.
Closing Lisa’s car door shut, a bit more forcefully than he intended, he made his way to the driver’s side
Ianto stopped when his phone blared. “Fly On the Wings of Love” was the ringtone Jack had changed Ianto’s phone to for this week. Last week it was “Only Love Survives.” Ianto rolled his eyes.
"I was just thinking about you, my handsome knight." he answered the call.
"All good things I presume, my true love."
"Always."
There was a pause as Jack collected his butterflies. Is this what his dad was talking about? Did Ianto mean his words as much as Jack did?
He took a deep breath, "How's the date going?"
"We had pizza, talked, and are headed home now."
"Her place?" Jack tried not to sound too jealous.
"No our separate ways."
"Now? No movie? What happened? Did she do something? Why-"
"Jack, calm down. I just- she's not my type. As a friend, yes. Something more, no. I already have you and you are all I'll ever need."
"When do you think you’ll be home?" he managed to ask after he was certain that if he opened his mouth he would not squeal. He really should not be this happy that Ianto's date ended prematurely.
"I'll drop Lisa off and be home in fifteen." he smiled, delighted that Jack called. He felt better already. If the blossoming feeling in his belly had anything to do with calling Jack’s parent’s house, ‘home,’ Ianto refused to evaluate why. Even if the only reason Ianto was practically adopted by Jack’s family was because his father was finally incarcerated, Ianto still felt that tingly sensation whenever he thought of calling the place he and Jack lived at ‘home.’
***