Title: We'll Always Have Paris
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG
Table: 11
Prompt: 41, Paris
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Jack Harkness. Please do not sue.

***

Ianto relaxed back into the chair on the sidewalk, looking around him a little cautiously. It was still odd to him that the Doctor could so easily travel through time, not caring that he seemed strange to the people around him. Ianto acutely noticed the stares of the people passing by on the streets, the whispers behind hands, the sidelong glances directed at himself and his lover.

But, truth be told, he really didn't care. He was here, with the Doctor, instead of being left behind as he'd feared that he would be. As long as he was with the man he loved, by his side, nothing else really mattered.

Paris in the 1950's wasn't exactly the place he'd thought the Doctor would be taking him, but the Time Lord had insisted that the era was one of the most romantic that he'd ever traveled to, and Ianto couldn't argue with him. After all, with everything that the Doctor had seen and done, he would definitely know best in that department. And the time did seem rather, well, uninhibited, at least in some ways.

The waiter brought the coffee that he'd ordered, setting the napkin and then the cup in front of him with a flourish and a flirtatious glance. Ianto ignored him, amused that the man didn't seem to care that his lover was standing just a few feet away, deep in conversation with someone that he apparently knew.

Ianto wondered idly just why the Doctor had found it so imperative to come to this particular place, why this café was so important to him. But the Gallifreyan had silenced his questions with a gentle kiss, followed by a quiet request for him not to question whatever the motive for being in this city at this time might be.

If there was one thing he'd learned from being with the Doctor even for the fairly short time they'd been together, it was that when the Time Lord took that tone of voice, questioning him about anything was definitely not an option.

The Doctor returned to the table, seating himself across from Ianto with a smile. "That was Anais," he explained, waving a hand to the dark-haired, petite woman moving away from the café on the arm of a tall, thin man. Ianto squinted, thinking that both people looked somehow familiar.

"She's quite excited about the publication of her diaries," the Doctor continued, sitting back and crossing his legs as though he was settling in for a while. When the waiter approached, with much less alacrity than he had when Ianto was sitting there alone, he smiled up at the young man and ordered a coffee in somewhat accented French.

With a jolt, Ianto realized just who the Doctor had been talking to. "That was Anais Nin?" he gasped, turning in his chair to catch a last glimpse of the woman as she made her way down the street. "Really?"

The Doctor nodded, glancing towards the couple sauntering along the other side of the street. "Yes, indeed. Anais and Henry are friends from .... well, from way back. Lovely people, the both of them."

Ianto turned back to the Doctor, his eyes wide. "I wonder who else you've known that's just a name in a history book to me."

"Probably quite a few people," the Doctor said offhandedly, accepting his coffee from the waiter and sipping at it reflectively. "You have to look at the fact that I've been around quite a bit longer than you have, my love. Though I don't consider that a bad thing." He stretched a hand across the table to twine his fingers with Ianto's. "You keep me young, you know."

"You are young," Ianto said softly, closing his fingers around the Doctor's. "Young and beautiful and .... and perfect."

"Far from that, beloved," the Time Lord murmured, a pink flush suffusing his pale skin. "But thank you for the lovely compliment."

"All right, maybe not perfect," Ianto conceded, disentangling his hand from the Doctor's to stroke the Gallifreyan's cheek. "But you're perfect for me."

"And you for me," the Time Lord whispered, lifting dark eyes to Ianto's. The young Welshman was surprised to see the shimmer of tears in those dark depths.

"I've never believed in perfection before," Ianto said, keeping his eyes focused on his lover's face. "Not until I met you. You turned my world upside down, in a way that I'd never thought that I would want. But now .... I wouldn't change anything in my life, for any reason."

"Nor would I," the Doctor answered, his hand covering Ianto's, pressing the young man's palm against his cheek. "It may not be easy for us at times, but nothing worth having ever comes too easily, you know."

Ianto looked around him, taking in the street, the people, the colors of the sunset that were beginning to streak across the late-afternoon sky. "I would face anything for you. You know that," he said softly, his heart swelling inside his chest, expanding with the strength of the love he felt for this man.

"I know, my love," the Doctor whispered, turning his head slightly to place a soft kiss on Ianto's palm. "I've already regretted shoving you into the path of danger more than once."

The young man shook his head, not wanting the Doctor's thoughts to turn in that direction. "You didn't shove me into anything. I came into this willingly. You haven't made me do a single thing that I haven't wanted."

"Including a trip to Paris?" the Doctor asked, dark eyes sparkling.

"I was a bit astounded at first, but I quite like it here," Ianto said with a smile, waving a hand to indicate their surroundings. "Even if I am a bit out of my time."

"We're all that, my love." The Doctor drained the last of his coffee, standing up and holding out a hand to Ianto. "We can't stay here for too much longer, you know. I'd just wanted to give you a taste of how relaxing a place -- and time -- like this can be."

"You're right. It's lovely," Ianto agreed, standing up and linking his arm through the Time Lord's. "I think we should have a bit of a look around before we have to leave, if that's all right?"

"Of course it is," the Doctor answered, moving one thin arm around Ianto's slim waist. "I intend to walk you along the Seine --" His voice lowered, becoming a bit husky as he leaned in toward the young man and brushed soft lips along his jawline. ".... and kiss you at the top of the Eiffel Tower."

"That sounds marvellous," Ianto murmured, leaning against the Doctor as they strolled down the street away from the café.

The waters of the Seine stretched to one side of them, the view as breathtaking as Ianto had always imagined it would be. And he was sharing this with the man he loved, he reminded himself, stealing a glance at the Doctor's profile. The Time Lord was studying the scene in front of them, one arm around Ianto's waist to hold the young man close against his side.

"It will almost be a shame to leave all this and go back to my own time," Ianto murmured, looking around him appreciatively.

"Hmmm?" The Doctor's attention immediately went to his young lover, and he nodded in agreement with Ianto's words. "Yes, it will be. But you know .... we'll always have Paris, my love."

"Indeed we will," Ianto said softly, raising a hand to turn the Doctor's face towards his for a long, deep kiss.

As their lips met, the thought crossed Ianto's mind that even if he didn't believe in perfection, this was definitely the closest thing to it.

***