Work Text:
After an entire month of emergency after emergency and issue after issue, the Torchwood team had finally been lucky enough to get a day of quiet. They'd taken this opportunity to catch up on paperwork, but since Ianto always made sure to stay on top of it all, they'd quickly been able to move on to their personal research projects.
Ianto had been forced to retreat to the tourist information centre early in the morning in order to escape the awful smell of whatever alien product Owen had decided to experiment with today, but working up there suited him just fine — the dimmer lights were easier on his eyes than those in the lower parts of the Hub. He'd recently thrown out all the outdated pamphlets of their cover business, so he decided to continue his work of reorganising the digital archives. He and Toshiko shared the task, as she was far more competent with a computer than anyone else he knew, but he had the knowledge and experience of Torchwood One's advanced archiving system that had been developed by a large team of specialists.
He'd made a fair bit of progress when the secret door to his left opened up and Juette walked into the room.
"Hi, baby," he said, leaning his elbows on the desk to rest his head on his hands.
Ianto blinked, unsure if he'd heard his partner properly or if he'd imagined it. "What did you just call me?"
- "Sorry!" Juette covered his mouth with his hands when his mind caught up to his words. "I didn't mean to say that.”
- "Oh, don't apologise," said Ianto, reaching for Juette's hand. "I think— I don't think I mind."
- "Well, we've never really used nicknames, I don't know. I thought maybe you didn't like them?"
- "I thought you didn't like them."
Juette shrugged. "I don't really mind either way," he said. "But do you like it? Me calling you 'baby'?"
Ianto nodded, feeling his face heat up. "I do."
- "Ah," Juette smiled.
- "Would you like a nickname too?"
- "Oh. Yes."
- "Hm, I'll think of one, then. I'll get back to you on this."
Juette straightened up and shook his hands in the air. "Okay! I'm going back to my work." He stepped behind the desk to press a kiss on Ianto's cheek. "Bye Ianto! I mean— bye, baby," he chuckled as he hurried back to his own workspace.
Instead of working at his desk, Juette spent the rest of the day in a room of the Hub filled with glass tanks of various sizes. Sometime last year, he'd used Jack's computer to send an email to UNIT informing them that Torchwood would take good care of the "spidery mouse things" Jack hated so much, and he occasionally sat next to their tank to work. While they very much looked like a cross between a mouse and a spider, their behaviour was completely different from that of both animals: Juette had been trying to document it, but he rarely had enough free time to spend an entire day sitting next to them like this, nor did he have much time to check the footage of the security camera that was pointed at the tank.
Ianto knew that was where Juette stayed when he was neither at his desk nor in the kitchenette, and soon it was his turn to visit his partner's workspace.
"Hello, lamb," said Ianto as he came in.
His voice startled Juette somewhat, but once he realised Ianto was here, his face lit up with a wide smile. "Hi, baby," he replied, giggling again.
- "Do you like your new nickname?" Ianto asked.
Juette nodded excitedly. "Yes!"
A smile made its way to Ianto's face as well. "I'm glad."
Juette set his laptop down on the nearest table. "By the way, do you think we could stop by the supermarket on the way home? I want chips..."
- "Of course."
Juette kissed Ianto.