Title: Home
By: ninefics
Characters: Ianto
Rating: All Ages
Warning(s): None
Spoiler(s): None
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I am not affiliated with the television series Torchwood, nor any of the cast and crew. No harm is intended. It's all just for fun.

There's a routine to going home.

You stop in the doorway, untie your shoes, and remove them, putting them on the rectangular mat just inside. Socks off next. (pinned together with the safety pin kept on the calf of your left sock. Lisa hated the pin thing and joked that she'd never live with you as long as you did that.) You pad quietly across the floor and onto the pale carpet and then through to the bathroom, where the socks go in the laundry basket.

Trousers and jacket off, onto a hanger on the back of the bathroom door. Today they're not bad and a quick going-over with a steam iron will freshen them. Tie is hung carefully in the closet. Shirt goes in the laundry.

(He laughed the first time he saw you undress, though not in an unkind way. "Meticulous as always," he said, "although I never thought you'd be the boxer-brief type.")

Suit, shirt, and tie for the next day are hung on the back of the bedroom door.

There's a bruise on your right knee where you barked it against a desk getting out of the way of Tosh on a mission (head down, eyes closed, brain whirling so fast you could almost hear it). You poke it and there's only a slight twinge of pain. Not enough to make you want to touch it again and just enough to make you regret touching it in the first place.

You find a pair of jeans (the only clothing you'll wear more than twice before washing), button them up, and still barefoot head for the kitchen to make a sandwich. (you can cook, but why bother? It's only fun if you're cooking for someone else.)

Eat, clean up, sit on the sofa with a book for a while until it's time for bed. You won't sleep, but you'll lie there and stare at the ceiling and pretend (and possibly have a dozen ten-minute naps) until the alarm goes off.

Shower. Shave. Dress. Return to the Hub because it's the only place that feels safe and normal.