Title: Under the Covers
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 25fluffyfics
Prompt: 9, Blankets
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.

***

"Is it just me, or is it colder in here than usual?" Ianto asked, wrinkling his nose as he looked around the bedroom he and the Doctor shared on the Tardis. "I'm going to need another blanket on the bed if it gets much more chilly in here."

The Doctor shook his head, laughing as he leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. "Ianto, you're imagining things. I think it's quite comfortable in here, actually. How can you think this is cold?"

"You seem to forget that you have a lower body temperature than I do, love," Ianto told him, feeling that he was probably being a bit ungrateful. After all, he was the interloper here; the Tardis wasn't used to being regulated to accommodate a human.

But the fact remained that he was cold. For some reason, the ship had decided to make her temperature colder than usual; Ianto couldn't figure out why, unless she was trying, in her own oblique way, to tell him something. Maybe he should try to think of what he might have done to displease her in some way, and rectify that.

Try as he might, he hadn't been able to think of a single thing he could have done to upset the Tardis. Or the Doctor, for that matter.

It didn't make sense that the ship might be annoyed at him for some reason. But yet she seemed to be going out of her way to make her atmosphere uncomfortable for him. What in the world could be the matter? He'd never know if she didn't find some way to make it clear to him ....

Ianto sighed, shaking his head and wishing that there was some way he could "talk" to the ship. He'd apparently done something wrong, but whatever it was, he had no way of finding out. Unless, of course, she'd tell the Doctor what it was.

The Time Lord didn't seem to think that anything was wrong, Ianto thought, glancing over at where his lover stood watching him. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that Ianto was obviously flustered; there was a smile hovering on his lips, his dark eyes sparkling.

All right, so that was just a bit annoying. If the Doctor and his ship were keeping some sort of secret from him, then he had every right to feel left out. After all, he was supposed to be privy to all of his lover's secrets, and he didn't appreciate the ship trying to keep something from him. Much less her apparent attempts to make him feel uncomfortable.

Standing up from where he'd been tucking the corner of a sheet under the mattress, Ianto placed his hands on his hips, looking over at the Doctor with a scowl on his face. Immediately, the smile was gone from the Time Lord's face, his eyes clouding.

"Ianto, what is it?" he asked, his voice gentle. "I was only joking, you know. If you're not comfortable with the temperature, the Tardis can make the air warmer."

"I don't appreciate her apparently going out of her way to make me uncomfortable," Ianto told him, his voice sounding petulant even to his own ears. "If she has a probem with me, I'd like to have it out in the open where I can deal with it."

The Doctor moved forward into the room, looking troubled as he sat down on the bed. He didn't seem to realize that Ianto had been changing the sheets, and that sitting there was keeping his boyfriend from finishing the task.

Ianto simply stood there, his hands still on his hips, waiting for the Doctor to say something. It looked as though the Time Lord was about to speak; he was shaking his head, looking as if he was trying to think of the right words to express what he wanted to say.

"Well?" Ianto couldn't help but say something; whatever the Doctor wanted to say apparently wasn't going to come out, and it felt as though it was getting colder in the room by the moment. The way that the Tardis was acting, he might as well be taken back to Earth to try and resume his life with the rest of the Torchwood team, Ianto thought sourly.

Did the ship object so strenuously to him being with the Doctor, then? Did she want him out of the Time Lord's life so badly that she would deliberately go out of her way to try and make him feel as unwelcome as possible?

If that was her intention, then she was doing a very good job of it, he thought bitterly, picking up the blanket that was usually on their bed and preparing to spread if over the sheets. If the Doctor didn't move, then Ianto would just let it fall over his head.

The Time Lord sighed, getting up from the bed and facing Ianto across the space that separarted the two of them, reaching out a hand towards his boyfriend.

"She's not trying to drive you away, Ianto," he said softly, his dark eyes pleading with Ianto to believe him. "She wants to bring you closer to me. And to her way of thinking, shared body heat would be the best way to get you to think in that direction."

Ianto stopped smoothing down the blanket, looking up at the Doctor with an incredulous expression on his face. "She wants me to get closer to you -- physically, you mean?" he said, his voice sounding as surprised as he felt. Of all the things that the Tardis could be trying to do, he hadn't thought of that. It seemed odd, but entirely possible.

"So you may want to put another blanket or two on the bed, and expect to be able to cuddle up with me tonight," the Time Lord told him, another smile starting to tug at the corners of his lips. "I don't know about you, but I quite like that idea."

Ianto couldn't stop the smile that began to spread over his own features. Of all the things he'd thought the Tardis could possibly do to bring the two of them closer, this hadn't been one of them; it was a good thing the Doctor hadn't let him continue to feel angry.

Of course, he wasn't used to having to figure out the motivations of a ship. It still seemed strange to him that she'd chosen such an unusual way to make her wishes known, but he supposed that there wasn't much else she could do.

But who was he to question the actions -- or the motivations -- of the Tardis? He might be the Doctor's soul mate, his lover, and the man he was meant to be with, but the ship had been with the Time Lord much longer than he had.

And if she had chosen this way to bring the two of them closer, then Ianto supposed that he had no other choice but to play along with her.

Moving to the linen closet in one corner of their bedroom, he pulled out another blanket, bringing it over to the bed and smoothing it down over the first one. Then, he reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it off over his head before starting to work at the buckle on his belt.

Ianto flashed the Doctor a teasing smile as he stripped his jeans off, pulling back the covers and sliding into bed. He laid back against the pillows, raising his eyebrows and holding his arms out to the Time Lord. "Are you going to get out of those clothes and get into bed or not?" he asked, the teasing note in his voice impossible to hide. "It's cold in here without you."

The Doctor didn't need to be told twice; he was already pulling off his own t-shirt and fumbling with the button and zip of his jeans. Ianto almost couldn't hold back his laughter at the Time Lord's hurry to get out of his clothes and under the covers of their bed with him.

Within seconds, the Doctor was under the covers next to him, his head resting on Ianto's chest. The younger man smiled as he slid his arms around his lover; all of his annoyance at the Tardis had faded, leaving behind a feeling of warmth and comfort.

If this had been her plan all along, then it was a good one. Anything that put the Doctor into his arms was all right with him, Ianto thought as he bent his head to brush a kiss against his lover's mouth. And he could swear that it was now much, much warmer -- at least from his point of view.

***