Title: Coffee in Bed
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: slash_me_twice
Prompt: 49, Coffee
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.

***

The Doctor took the cup of coffee that Ianto handed to him, smiling up at his young lover as he sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up his own coffee cup. He sipped the hot liquid, regarding Ianto over the rim of the cup as he did so.

"This is a surprise, getting coffee in bed," he murmured, wondering just what had made Ianto decide to do this. Was it some kind of special occasion? He racked his brain for what it could be, but came up empty. So maybe that wasn't the reason.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you," his lover replied, his voice husky and warm. His eyes were on the Doctor's face, as though he was searching his expression for something, but the Time Lord was mystified as to what he could be looking for.

He decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and ask Ianto just what the occasion was -- if indeed there was some particular reason for this.

"Ianto, is there some occasion that I've forgotten about?" he asked, wrinkling his brow. He felt a little worried that his lover would be annoyed if there was some reason that this should be looked at as a special day, but hopefully, Ianto would understand that he didn't always remember those.

After all, he wasn't human. He didn't have a lifetime of memories about things like Christmas and other occasions that humans thought were important. Though he'd adopted several of those days as ones he also celebrated now, they didn't come naturally to him.

But the younger man shook his head, smiling as he did so. "No, nothing special. It's not a date you should remember .... I just woke up and thought it would be nice to give you coffee in bed as a little surprise. I hadn't done anything like that for you before."

The Doctor cast his mind back over the short time that he'd been with Ianto to discover that the other man was right -- he hadn't brought the Time Lord coffee in bed in any of that time.

"You know, I think you're right," he mused, wondering why they'd never shared a moment like this in the time they'd been with each other. "That's a bit odd, isn't it? I thought things like this were fairly common with humans."

"They are," Ianto nodded, taking another sip and looking over at him. "I just hadn't gotten around to doing this yet, that's all." He sighed, lowering his coffee cup and looking down into the swirling liquid. "I suppose I'm not the teaboy for nothing, am I?"

The Doctor frowned, wondering what had made Ianto bring that nickname up. He knew that his lover didn't like it; he'd been teased too often by his colleagues at Torchwood about being the teaboy when he'd been there, and that it had made him feel less than needed.

And less than wanted, as well. The Doctor was still angry at Jack for giving Ianto that impression, for making him feel as if he wasn't important.

Carefully setting his coffee cup down on the table by the bed, he reached out a hand to Ianto, wrapping his fingers around his young lover's wrist. "I'm sorry you had to feel that way for so long, love. But you know that you're much more than that to me."

Ianto nodded, sighing and setting his cup down beside the Doctor's. "I know .... it's just hard for me not to think of myself in that way sometimes. I suppose I got used to it after so long, and it's hard to shake that image of who I am."

"But that's not who you are," the Doctor argued, the slight frown between his brows deepening. "You proved that during your time with Torchwood, Ianto. Jack even admitted that you came to be more to the team than what you began as being."

"I never felt like much more than that, even when I went out with the team." Ianto shrugged, shaking his head. "I never really fit in with them all that well."

"Would you have wanted to?" The Doctor's gaze didn't waver; he fixed his eyes on Ianto's face, his eyes holding the other man's. "Would you really have wanted to have Jack's attitude of people being expendable? That's not who you are, Ianto."

The young man scowled, shaking his head again. "No, and that's one of the reasons I wasn't unhappy to leave Torchwood. I couldn't take the same kind of attitude that Jack has. He might miss people, but they go through his life so quickly that they don't mean a lot to him."

He didn't say the words, but the unspoken inference was there: I didn't mean much to him once he was done with me as a lover. The Doctor's hearts ached for the young man; Ianto was still hurt by that bad experience.

He knew exactly how that felt. Jack had hurt him in the same way, using him and throwing him away once he'd tired of their relationship.

"I felt the same way, Ianto," the Doctor said softly, not looking away from the other man. "He used me in the same way. I'm not going to make excuses and say that it's 'just Jack's way,' either. I'll just say that I'm glad you saw through him."

Ianto leaned forward, smiling and placing a gentle hand on the Time Lord's cheek. "So am I, love. I'm much better off with you than I could ever have been with him, and I know it. He'd only have made me unhappy in the long run. I wasn't all that happy with him to start with."

"Neither was I when we were together, really. I'm much happier with you," the Doctor said softly, raising a hand to cover Ianto's. "He never really loved me -- though I wanted to think he did at the time. Now, I'm with someone who does. It makes all the difference."

He closed his eyes as Ianto's lips met his, wrapping his arms around the young man's neck as Ianto gently pushed him down onto the pillows.

It was some time later before the two of them pulled apart, both breathless from the feverish kisses they'd shared. The Doctor was panting, almost gasping for breath; it took him a few moments to be able to get words out.

"You know, our coffee's going to get cold," he pointed out, glancing towards the beside table to where the coffee cups gave mute testimony to what what had started their conversation. "Unless you have more waiting in the kitchen."

Ianto's eyes crinkled at the corners as he laughed, leaning down to kiss the Doctor again. "Of course I do," he told the Time Lord, sitting up slightly and reaching for the coffee cups. "You know me -- I'm always prepared for contingencies like that."

So saying, he picked up both cups, standing up and moving towards the door. "I'll get us both a refill, love. Just give me five minutes and I"ll be right back."

"Even though I know you don't like to be thought of as a teaboy, I have to say that you make a damn good cup of coffee," the Doctor laughed, lounging back against the pillows and watching Ianto as he headed for the door with the two cups in his hands.

"And when I get back, you'll find that there are other things I can do even better," Ianto smirked, winking at the Doctor as he disappeared down the hallway. The Time Lord leaned back on the pillows, smiling and counting the seconds until his lover reappeared.

***