Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Jack, Ianto

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 1,305 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 258 - Point and Challenge 116 - Refusal (Bingo square)

Summary: Jack's unhappy at having lost an argument with Ianto's sister.

There was no mistaking that fact that Jack had arrived home. Even from the kitchen, Ianto could clearly hear the loud boots stomping down the hallway before being toed off and thrown in the corner, the car keys clanking noisy on the sideboard where they'd been dropped, and the general huff and puff of their owner as he made his way towards the kitchen. Ianto had no inkling of what was wrong, since he'd left Jack in good spirits around lunchtime. Then again, a lot could happen in a few hours.

Jack's entrance into the kitchen was both dramatic and anticlimactic all at once. He dispensed with the need to greet his lover, instead heading straight for the fridge and taking out the carton of milk, pouring a large glass which he sculled before slamming the empty vessel on the bench top and wiping his mouth with back of his hand.

Ianto gave him a moment, pausing halfway through chopping up a capsicum before giving Jack an enquiring look. 'What's got you in such a huff?'

'Your stupid sister,' Jack replied, his tone terse and his fist clenched.

'My stupid...' He let the rest trail off. The term "stupid sister" was generally reserved for his use alone. In fact, he didn't think Jack had ever made a derogatory comment about her that he actually genuinely meant. That didn't mean she didn't sometimes deserve such descriptors but it caught him off guard all the same.

Jack loved Ianto's family, who were by extension, now his family, and the only family he had, but Ianto could tell from Jack's body language that they drove him mad sometimes. He wondered if that was natural. People always complained about their in laws didn't they? Johnny had driven him bananas for years before he'd finally figured out that he didn't mean anything by it when he ragged on Ianto.

'You know, Ianto,' Jack continued on, 'she can be so stubborn and ungrateful.'

Pot meet kettle, Ianto thought, trying to hold back the grin from his face. 'What did you do?'

'Nothing!' Jack sputtered. 'She called me to ask if she could move dinner forward an hour next Tuesday, so I mentioned to her the trip we were going to take the kids on. Then she lost it.'

Ianto set the knife down. 'I thought we said we were going to talk to her about it first,' Ianto replied. 'I didn't want you getting the kids hopes up.'

'Well, all the more reason I thought I should mention it now. Then by the time we get to dinner next week, it's all official.'

Ianto could just imagine how Jack conversation might have gone. He and Jack had their own holidays planned, but the idea to take David and Mica along for the America leg of the trip was something they hadn't yet discussed with Rhiannon and Johnny. Jack wanted to do all the theme parks and tour Hollywood, take them to see the grand canyon and the Statue of Liberty, to eat fried chicken in Louisiana and ride horses in Montana. Ianto had agreed it would be fun and something the kids would remember for long years to come.

'So, I take it she didn't like the idea.' Ianto had suspected it would be a fifty fifty. There weren't too many people who stood their ground when Jack put on his angry captain face but Rhiannon was one of them. She'd had, so she liked to tell him, been standing up to obnoxious, pushy twats her whole life, and she wasn't going to let Jack get away with it either. His charms didn't quite have their usual effect on her as they didn't on others.

Jack scowled, recalling the conversation. 'I offered her and Johnny to come along as well, then she got really worked up. She was being totally unreasonable.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'I know you, Jack. You would have made the suggestion and then the minute Rhi arked up about it you'd have gone on the offensive and made the situation worse.'

'I did not! I'm only trying to treat the kids to something nice.'

'Yes, but she'll only see it as you trying to spoil them.'

'What's wrong with that?'

'You've missed the point. It's not about wanting to spoil them, it's setting the expectation that they'll be spoiled and the worry that they'll come to expect we'll always spoil them.'

'But we do, and we will.'

Ianto gave a concessionary nod of his head. 'In a manner of speaking. She wants them to learn to value things when they get gifted to them, not just to take it for granted.'

Ianto knew that all too well. His sister had begrudgingly accepted the nice house he'd bought her, in a nice part of town, so that they could move out of that horrible estate. That afforded them enrolment at a better school for the kids, and the new car wasn't really a gift, it was merely repayment for the one he'd borrowed but not been able to return, world potentially ending at the time and all. Christmases and birthdays were always opportunities to spoil the family, but aside from that, Ianto could understand perfectly his sister's reluctance to let Jack and Ianto shower them with generosity. It didn't matter that they had the money to spend and no one else to spend it on, it was the principle of the thing. Ianto didn't like people spoiling him either. It always felt a little bit like you owed them something that would be called upon in the future.

'I think maybe you should let me talk to her,' Ianto offered.

Jack bristled. 'What, so now you're saying I can't even fight my own battles? You're okay with me taking on an eight foot weevil but I can't handle your sister?'

Ianto sighed. 'Once again, I think you've missed the point. You blindsided her and then got mad when she didn't like what you had to say. You can't just thrust charity into people's faces expect them to be happy about it. People have pride. You know what pride is, don't you Jack?'

Jack huffed and folded his arms, staring down contemptuously at the chopped vegetables on the bench. 'They wouldn't even be missing any school,' he sulked.

'Probably should have been part of your opening statement,' Ianto suggested. He knew that was how he would have approached it - whilst they were on holidays, educational but enjoyable, quality time with their uncles and no interruptions from Torchwood, totally safe, good clean fun. Take them off your hands so you can have a bit of a break too, maybe Spain? I hear Spain is nice this time of year.

Ianto stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jack, who struggled slightly in his grip, still trying to be angry and petulant. 'You can be so diplomatic when it's life or death or aliens invading, but in everyday matters you always let your temper get the best of you,' Ianto tipped his head sideways. 'Are you sure that you're not related to my sister?'

Jack snorted indignantly. 'I'm starting to wonder if I'm allowed to do anything nice for anyone around here,' he grumbled.

Ianto tapped his lips thoughtfully. 'Well, how about you start with finishing cooking dinner, which will give me time to call Rhi and begin unpicking the mess you've gotten yourself into. I don't think we need to start canceling holiday plans just yet. Stubborn she might be, but I've never let my sister refuse me anything.'

Ianto grinned letting Jack admired his smug expression. 'And how is it that you're able to win an argument with her? Do you wear her down with pointless rational arguments?'

'Nope. That's just the bonus of being the little brother.'