Jack's Treasures

[donutsweeper]

Title: Jack's Treasures
Pairing/Rating/Warning: none, rated G
Word Count: 100
Summary: Trinkets or treasures, they are what Jack holds dear

The old cigar box sits open on the desk, displaying its treasures for the world.  Inside there’s a key, kept shiny and bright despite its obvious age.  A photo of two young lovers, frozen forever in each other’s gaze. A single cufflink, dull and scratched.  Several newspaper articles, brittle and faded.  And a small ashtray, made out of clay by tiny hands,  fingerprints still noticeable on the sides.

Ianto has seen the box, and its contents, many times; whether Jack leaves it out by accident or design he doesn’t know.  But he knows he’ll never have the courage to ask.

Comments

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

This is lovely. The ashtray is especially evocative. As is the fact that the box is open. Is it always open, or just this once? Hmm.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked, the image of the ashtray is what got me started with this drabble and hmm... not sure it's open often, I'd like to think Jack has many things he would like to talk about, but can't quite bring the subject up so he waits and hopes that others will broach the subject for him

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

can't quite bring the subject up so he waits and hopes that others will broach the subject for him

Boy does that sound familiar! And it's a good point, with Jack. I can see him wanting to keep a lot of things buried, but at the same time longing to be able to share them with somebody.

It would more likely be Gwen or Tosh than Ianto who would come out and ask, I suppose. Ianto's more the silent observation type.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

True, Gwen especially, but I doubt he really would want to go into personal details with her like he would with Ianto

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

He does it a lot in the show, though. He tells Gwen personal stuff more often than he tells anybody else. I think Tosh comes in second. (I'll have an accurate count in a few weeks!) Of course, we don't know about any pillow talk with Ianto - but I can see that he might *prefer* to share certain things with Ianto. Ianto has probably figured out on his own, more than Jack's ever spilled to Gwen.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

He does talk to Gwen, but in a round about manner she doesn't quite seem to understand or believe. She has no idea what he means about looking for 'the right kind of doctor.' She certainly accepted his "I can't die" speech but then again, he had to tell her something, since she saw him get shot through the head and all.

hmmm... but he did choose her to be the one to take to see Estelle, and she was the one who put it together that it was him and not his father who was in love with Estelle all those years ago, but does he spill secrets to Gwen because he planned to or because she happens to be the one who sees things that need explaining?

Canon is very vague about him and Ianto... purposely so, I assume

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

I guess I just read those interactions differently; rather than forced on his part and mistrustful on hers, I get quite a (platonically) intimate vibe from them. Gwen probes, takes what she can understand, and doesn't push too hard about what she can't. Naturally she doesn't know what he means, exactly, about the Doctor. I've seen Jack dissemble (he did it with Tosh at the end of GbG) and he could do the same to Gwen all the time, but he doesn't. I don't think he plans to share things with her, but if she brings it up he doesn't always fight it. And if it were, say, Owen, I think he would.

Ha! Trying to find consistent motivations in Torchwood. We so crazy. *g*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

TW is anything if not inconsistent!!! I just can't ge a handle on Gwen. In my mind her spoke to her a lot because she was suppose to be the fan's eyes and ears and intro to the TW world. But you're right, he could have dissembled with her and didn't. So, I don't know.

This piece got written with Ianto seeing the treasure box because he's the one who does the cleaning up, I'm not sure I meant much more than that.