Title: Wants and Needs
By: mickeylover303
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1480
Summary: Ianto finds himself and Owen becoming closer while Jack still has yet to find out.

It’d been more than a few months now, and Ianto supposed he’d more than merely accepted that Owen was his brother. It helped that Owen was able to prove it by comparing their DNA, as well. That was the deciding factor that ceased any misgivings either of them may have had.

 
And it was almost...comforting – in the oddest sense of the word – that he and Owen had become so relaxed about this new aspect to their relationship. But sometimes he couldn’t help but think that Owen was enjoying it perhaps a bit too much, dare Ianto say abusing the so-called perks that the other man deemed came with the responsibility of being an older brother.
 
Then again, Ianto knew he shouldn’t have expected anything different.
 
However, as he put another file on the shelf, Ianto really wished the other man wouldn’t take the role so literally.
 
“Is there something in particular you needed, Owen?” he asked. “Because for some strange reason I thought you were hired to do...“doctorish” things.” It was poor word usage as its best (if he was allowed to count fabricated words), but Ianto wasn’t too enthusiastic about contributing to their normal banter today; especially when it seemed that Owen had nothing better to do than stare at him.
 
Owen looked up from folder in his hand, slumping further into a chair as he rearranged his feet on top of the end table Ianto would have to clean later. “And here I thought you’d appreciate me helping you.” He snorted. “If this is the thanks I get-”
 
“You’ve been sitting there for the last ten minutes doing nothing but gawk at me,” Ianto said flatly.
 
“Five.”
 
“Ten.”
 
“I wasn’t gawking at you,” Owen said, holding the folder above his head, showing Ianto that he was indeed doing more than just sitting and gawking at the younger man. “In fact, I’m supervising.”
 
Ianto held the bridge of his nose, trying to hold on to some semblance of patience. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he was tired and maybe even a little hungry. Yet, he wanted to complete the task at hand. There hadn’t been any Rift activity all day and the team was in no rush to do anything as of yet.  And searching for files about the Pakhar he and Owen ran into a couple of weeks ago wasn’t a particularly urgent matter, but Ianto still wanted to get it done now so he wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
 
“No, you’re just making me irritable.”
 
“Hey, if I was stuck here for the last couple of hours, I would have wanted some company. Then again, I wouldn’t hole myself-”
 
“That’s because you’re not doing anything at all.”
 
“Fine, all right.” Owen put the folder down, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “There isn’t any food-”
 
“That you want to eat,” Ianto clarified.
 
“And we’re all – apparently except for you, of course – more than a tad bit hungry.”
 
Ianto sighed, turning around to face Owen. “Can’t you go and-”
 
“Ah,” Owen began, raising a finger at Ianto. “But that’s your job. And I believe you said I was hired for uh, “doctorish” things, yeah?” he added lightly, a smirk playing on the corner of his lips.
 
Ianto opened his mouth but quickly found that he wasn’t able to reply. He wouldn’t deny that it was his job, part of an equally incongruous and necessary position no one really questioned. Still, he really thought it would do more than just behove Owen to actually get something to eat himself if he was that committed to doing nothing else aside from staring at Ianto for a source of entertainment.
 
“I believe I already made my point,” Owen said simply, his voice bringing Ianto to the conclusion that he must have unintentionally relayed his thoughts to the other man in some capacity.
 
Ianto ignored the remark; knowing the other man was trying to rile him through something he couldn’t disagree with. He rolled his eyes, intent on leaving to pick up some food; if only to encourage Owen to keep busy with something else besides him.
 
“Ianto?!”
 
He just wasn’t expecting to see Jack coming down the stairs. The voice startled Ianto, proving how tired he actually was, and caused him to trip over his feet.
 
And he certainly couldn’t say he expected Owen to catch him before he had the opportunity to fall, either.
 
“Oh,” Jack said, mouth opened in surprise. “Is there something I should know about? And more importantly, is it something that I can join in?” he added with a smirk in his voice, or at least what Ianto assumed to be since he now found his head awkwardly placed on Owen’s shoulder as he leaned against the other man.
 
Although, it took him a moment longer to realise his face was pressed against the fabric of Owen’s shirt and that the other man was holding him upright by his waist. Ianto lifted his head, briefly making contact with Owen before they both took notice of the position they were in, backing away swiftly as if their contact with one another burned.
 
“It’s none of your business, Harkness,” Owen said as he placed his hands in his pockets.
 
Ianto gave a polite cough, covering his mouth with his hand before he was able to look at either Owen or Jack. He was now a considerable distance from Owen, but it didn’t stop the faint blush from appearing on his face.
 
Jack’s smirk widened into a grin. “Oh, now, you definitely have my attention. But I want all the sordid details upstairs. The food’s getting warm and I don’t think you want to get soy sauce all over everything down here.” He looked at the folder Owen placed on the end table earlier.
 
“Food?” Ianto asked, previous embarrassment now forgotten as his gaze shifted to Owen. “But you said-”
 
“Didn’t you claim you were starving?” Owen interrupted, looking pointedly at Jack.
 
Smiling cheekily, Jack said, “Yeah, but Gwen suggested I should wait for you two until I get any more. But let me say it was hard staying away from the prospect of raw fish.”
 
Ianto’s face contorted in confusion. “But I was on my way to pick up something because Owen said we didn’t have any food.”
 
“Really now,” Jack said, raising an eyebrow at Owen. “That’s strange because Owen was the one who picked something up from that Japanese place you like.”
 
“Zushi?” Ianto asked, narrowing his eyes at Owen as the other man tried to make his way to the stairs without being noticed.
 
But Owen soon stopped moving when he realised his actions were only drawing attention to him, shrugging when Ianto continued to look at him expectantly. “Yeah, well, I was getting tired of pizza, all right?” he said defensively.
 
Taking note of Owen’s guarded posture, Ianto bit his lip. He remembered what Jack said, which meant that he and Owen were the only ones who hadn’t eaten yet.
 
“Did you at least get me the bento box with-”
 
“Of course I did.” Owen huffed in exasperation, somewhat insulted by the implications by Ianto’s question. “You think I’d forget that you liked the...” He trailed off midsentence, the expression on his face reflecting the weight of his words being registered in his mind. “You know what? I don’t have time for this shit,” he said brusquely, turning around to make his way to the stairs.
 
Ianto did his best to hide his burgeoning smile. Maybe being the little brother was a perk after all. “Owen,” he said softly but loud enough for the man in question to hear him.
 
Owen halted in his movements, loosely gripping the handrail as he stilled. He didn’t turn around, but Ianto could tell the other man was listening.
 
“Thanks.”
 
Snorting, Owen didn’t say anything in reply as he made his way up the stairs.
 
Jack looked back and forth between Ianto and Owen’s retreating figure. “I thought we already had that conversation about keeping secrets?” he asked; confusion and suspicion evident in his voice.
 
Ianto didn’t waver beneath Jack’s heavy gaze, brushing it aside as he continued to watch Owen climb the stairs. While he knew Jack was referring to what happened with Lisa, Ianto didn’t think that his relationship with Owen was quite the same. Not to mention that Owen would probably attempt to invoke some kind of bodily harm on him – probably just out of embarrassment – if he disclosed the fact that the other man was his brother.
 
But Ianto was resolved to tell Jack and the others about the two of them eventually...just not today.
 
“No,” he finally said, shaking his head slightly. “It's nothing important, really.”
 
“It had to be something,” Jack retorted, not quite convinced when Ianto began to smile fully.
 
“Owen was just being...Owen.”