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

[chatona.livejournal.com]

My first thought can be summarised as this: TARDIS key!! \o/

I likes ♥ And poor Ianto. Awh.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Yep, of course the TARDIS key's there, but Ianto'd never come right out and ask, would he? Glad you liked it!

[sunstar77.livejournal.com]

Very sweet!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

who made the ashtray?

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

It doesn't exist in the "real" TW world, but just seemed like something Jack would have and keep to me. He'd be such a great dad or uncle to a child, I'd like to think he had that opportunity at some point in time.

[elinor-godwin.livejournal.com]

Simply lovely :) Good description and choice of items he'd have kept. Love the ashtray and the significance of it. I still have a pinch pot I made when I was in the first grade - complete with fingerprints! Thanks for the lovely drabble.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

Maybe Hywel made it? jadesfire2808's backstory for Jack is pretty much canon for me anyway. This is a lovely drabble. I love the key (of course) but also the bits that *don't* involve the Doctor, the bits of his life since then.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Isn't it weird that Jades's characters are so canonlike? Actually, I was thinking of writing a bit in my tardis bigbang fic about it, presuming it ever gets going. Glad you liked the drabble, I'd like to think that while he'll always cling to his history with the Doctor, he'll also have many other fond memories as well.

[unfeathered]

I love this one too. Very poignant. TARDIS key, of course, but the other stuff too. Love the fingerprints in the clay.

Jack has such a long past. There must be so much he's thrown away, so what he's kept is doubly important.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

There's so much to wonder about when it comes to Jack, right? *sigh*

Glad you liked it!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*sniff* Lovely. I really like the way you mix objects that we'd recognise with more mysterious ones, like the ashtray. Really nicely done.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

*passes tissue* Thanks!

[seize.livejournal.com]

Little pieces. Someday he'll understand.

Beautiful little piece.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You should write stories about where the items came from, and why they mean something to Jack. The key... well, there's onlyl one significant key in Jack's life! But I always picture him as keeping it permanently in his greatcoat pocket. He'll never know ahead of time when he might need it.

Why will Ianto not ask about the box? That raised a lot of questions in my head. Is he afraid of offending Jack, or of being rebuffed? Or afraid of more complete answers? Or afraid Jack will think he's snoopy, like Gwen?

...It seems rather faint of heart, for Ianto. I wondered what you have in mind.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Lol, well, I couldn't decide if the key was THE KEY, and left that up to the reader. In my mind the picture is him and Estelle, but who knows, could be anyone. The ashtray does have a story behind it that *should* pop up in my tardis_bigbang if I ever get that sucker done. No real idea behind the cufflink, just that it seemed very Jack-like.

The bit with Ianto, I looked as it that Ianto was afraid to pry. If he was certain Jack left it out FOR him to see then he would have asked, but by not being sure he's uncomfortable pushing boundries.

[ktswaz.livejournal.com]

How young were the lovers?? I've always thought that Jack would have had picture of the Doctor and Rose together! Hamming it for the camera! A memento of his time with them. Team TARDIS forever! Great drabble by the way!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I supposed it's entirely possible it's Rose and the Doctor in the photo, I left it up to the reader to decide.

Glad you liked it.

[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.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I couldn't decide if the key was THE KEY, and left that up to the reader.

One could do a whole series of 'key' stories!

No real idea behind the cufflink, just that it seemed very Jack-like.


It does. I like the idea that he might have somehow stolen it from the other Jack when they were dancing.

by not being sure he's uncomfortable pushing boundries.

That makes sense.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

One could do a whole series of 'key' stories!

ooh, now that is an idea. In "SOTD" he had a huge keychain full of keys. What are all the rest for?

I like the idea that he might have somehow stolen it from the other Jack when they were dancing.

One of my thoughts was that is was Original!Jack's but again, I wanted to leave it up to the reader... and there's also that pesky 100 word limit

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

In "SOTD" he had a huge keychain full of keys. What are all the rest for?

The more I think about this question, the more it intrigues me.

...Do you mean "The Sound of Drums"? I'm breaking my brain trying to think what SOTD might be and I can't remember the keychain keys!

there's also that pesky 100 word limit

Which is always either not nearly enough or (less often) way too much.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Isn't it in 'Sound of the Drums' that the Doctor is futzing with their TARDIS keys to make the perception filters? He holds out his hand and Martha hands him hers and then Jack instantly pulls out his keys and rifles through this whole mess of them to find his TARDIS key. (I know the US airing cut this (and many other) scene, but now I can't find it on youtube to prove to myself I'm not going nuts)

Lately I've been unable to write anything but drabbles. Somehow the limit of 100 words gives me enough of a boxed in feeling I can dredge up a story...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're nuts - I think I'm just slow to remember that moment.

I find drabbles are really good when I don't have much time to write, and can do them and post them and feel as if I've written something when I don't have time or energy to work on a larger story.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

drabbles can give a sense of accomplishment that is sorely needed some days!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, and some story ideas don't need more than a drabble. Others need thousands of words. As long as we can tell which are which, we're okay!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

what I love about drabbles is they make great snapshots- a quick look at a moment in time, or an emotion. (And don't get me started about the stories that need thousands of words, I still have no idea how my most recent fic morphed into nearly 12,000 words!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

what I love about drabbles is they make great snapshots

Yes, and that's fun. You can explore bits of characterization, and sometimes one idea leads to another.

I still have no idea how my most recent fic morphed into nearly 12,000 words!

They do that sometimes, and when they do, there's no stopping the momentum. I look forward to it!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

It's a SGA/TW (well, Captain Jack) crossover I posted a few hours ago

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

At. I'll look at it later - I'm at work now. I'm totally, totally clueless about SGA, so I suspect most of it will be lost on me.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't be too confusing, basically its Jack flirting in a different galaxy...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I can handle that!

[laurab1.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jack. Sweet :)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Glad you like!

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Aww the things you keep that mean stuff to you and not other people *hearts Jack* and *pokes Ianto to go ask*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

:) glad you liked!