Title: An Object of Beauty
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 6, Church
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own Ianto Jones or the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***


"These kinds of places always make me feel so small and insubstantial," Ianto murmured as he and the Doctor paused just inside the doors of the large church they'd entered, looking around them at the beauty of the interior.

"Why is that?" the Doctor asked, his tone curious. "Humans are supposed to revere churches. I've found that even the most disbelieving of people has some reverence for the beauty that a church has, even if they don't revere the religious side of it."

Ianto sighed, taking a few steps further into the church and laying a hand on the back of a pew. "I was literally forced into going to church when I was a child," he said softly, shaking his head. "I was taught that religion was something to fear, not to embrace."

The Doctor scowled, looking angry at Ianto's words. "I've never understood that. No one should have to fear the deity they worship. That's not religion. That's the invention of a few people in power, using fear and intimidation to control the masses, and it's wrong."

"I couldn't agree more," Ianto said, moving down the aisle towards the altar. "But unfortunately, that's the way most of the human race lives. It's sad that they're brainwashed into believing that their deity is one that's vengeful and thrives on hatred, but that's the way it is."

"It won't always be that way, Ianto," the Doctor told him, his voice soft. He moved to stand beside his young lover in front of the altar, placing a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Humans do eventually come to realise that religion isn't about fear and control."

"But how long does it take?" Ianto burst out, feeling a resentment building within him. Not towards the Doctor, but towards the beliefs that had been forced on him -- and which he'd actually gone in fear of, at least for a while. "How long before people stop letting themselves be fooled?"

"Centuries," the Doctor admitted with a sigh. "But you've seen how Jack reacts to talk of deities. He's not entrenched in the same dogma that people in your century have forced themselves to live under. He's proof that you do get past all of that."

Ianto nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself. There was no use getting angry at what he couldn't change. It would have to be enough for him to know that it would change -- not in his lifetime, obviously, but in the future.

That was one of the best things about being with the Doctor, he told himself as his eyes swept over the burning candles in front of him. Knowing that eventually, things did change, and even being able to go into the future and see that change for himself.

"At least humans do eventually change," he murmured, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to let the tranquility of the church sink into him. That was one of the few things he liked about churches. They could give him a sense of peace, if he chose to let it in.

And today, he did. He kept his eyes closed, breathing in the scent of the candles, letting himself drift, trying to relax and let all of the tension drain out of him. This was what a church was meant for, wasn't it? To restore a sense of peace to a person's soul.

That was definitely what it was doing for him. He could literally feel his heart rate slowing to its normal pace, his breathing becoming more normal. Ianto opened his eyes, blinking before he looked around at the beauty of the church.

The stained-glass windows were illuminated with light from outside, filling the walls with prisms of color. The Doctor was looking at one of those windows, the colored lights playing over his face; Ianto stood still and watched his lover make his way from one window to another.

He had to smile inwardly at the look of wonder on the Doctor's face; the Time Lord looked as though he was finding the beauty of the stained glass hard to believe unless he actually touched it to prove to himself that it was actually there.

That was one of the things he loved the most about the Doctor, Ianto told himself as he watched the other man making his way around the church, studying each of the windows in turn. He could always find beauty and wonder in things that everyone else overlooked or took for granted.

How often had he gone into a church and stood there, focused only on how long he would have to be there and hoping that the time would go by quickly, rather than seeing the beauty around him and letting it permeate his senses? Too many to count.

Traveling with the Doctor had shown him so many new places and things that he would never have dreamed existed, much less that he would ever be able to see -- but it had also opened him up to things around him that he'd never really looked at before.

His eyes had been opened to not only other worlds, but his own, Ianto mused as he kept his eyes on the Doctor. There was so much around him that he never paid attention to, that he overlooked on a daily basis, but that the Doctor never failed to notice.

It had taken falling in love with an alien, and traveling to different worlds on a constant basis, for him to be able to appreciate more of what was in his own world, he thought, a smile starting to curve his lips as his eyes followed his lover on his circuit around the church.

The Doctor was reaching up to rest his fingertips on the stained glass, his touch almost loving. Ianto knew that his lover appreciated beauty in all its forms, and he was obviously letting the beauty of this place sink into his soul.

Ianto moved across the floor to where the Doctor was standing, looking up at the stained glass that so seemed to transfix the Time Lord. "The colors are beautiful," he said softly, letting his eyes take in the deep richness of the hues.

"Yes, they are," the Doctor said softly, reaching out to brush his fingers against the glass. "And I love the way the windows feel -- it's not like a clear glass window. There's an almost silky texture to the glass. I like the way it feels against my skin."

The young man nodded, reaching out to touch the glass himself. He was surprised to find that the Doctor was right; he'd never actually touched a stained glass window before, so he'd never noticed that about them. "It's almost .... soft, in a strange way."

"But they aren't meant to be touched," the Doctor said, stepping back and shoving his hands into the pockets of his long coat. "They're meant to be admired, just as most beauty is -- but nothing more than that. It's sad, really."

"I have to wonder how many people would choose to become a part of all the beauty around us if they could," Ianto mused, stepping back along with the Time Lord. "Or how many of them just walk by things like this every day without really seeing."

"Probably quite a lot of them walk by works of art that they don't even realise are there," the Doctor said, turning to his lover with a sigh. "An object of beauty doesn't have to be enshrined like the Mona Lisa to be appreciated, but people seem to think that it does."

"Thank you for bringing me here -- and making me see the inside of a church in a new way," Ianto told him, reaching out to slide his arm through the Doctor's. "But don't you think it's time to get back to the Tardis, and appreciate her own particular kind of beauty?"

The Doctor laughed, nodding and moving towards the doors at the rear of the church. "Yes, I think we've spent enough time here," he said, taking one last look around before pushing the heavy oaken doors open and walking outside.

As they left the church, Ianto didn't look back. Yes, he had enjoyed the beauty of the place -- but that, he felt, had been best done from inside. He was looking forward to going back to a place that had a very different kind of beauty -- one that he would never fail to appreciate.

***