Title: Beneath the Blue Sky
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 24, Viridian
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.

***

Ianto squinted up at the blue sky, raising a hand to shade his eyes. He was glad that he and the Doctor had chosen to come here, to this quiet place on Earth, rather than to go to another pleasure planet. He'd had his fill of places that were densely populated.

It was lovely to have some time alone, just to themselves. As much as he liked visiting pleasure planets, he wanted his private time with the Doctor -- and even though they could have that on the Tardis, it was nice to be out in the open air and light like this.

He'd never seen the sky so blue -- at least, not that he could remember. It was so bright, so full of promise. Maybe that was a sign that they'd done the right thing by coming here, to a quiet place on Earth, rather than going to another pleasure planet.

This place certainly felt peaceful, Ianto told himself as he looked around, leaning back on the blanket that he'd spread over the ground. They weren't going to stay out here for the evening; the Doctor had assured him that they'd spend the night in their bed on the Tardis.

In spite of the time that he and the Doctor had spent out in the countryside, he still wasn't completely over that terrible experience from his early days with the Torchwood team; Ianto couldn't help wondering if he ever would be. But he was getting used to being out in the open.

At least here, they could be sure that there weren't any hungry local cannibals who would try to make him their evening meal. No, they were safe, protected by the nearness of the Tardis, and in a place where they could relax and enjoy themselves.

Besides, sitting here under a beautiful blue sky, the bright viridian so intense that it almost hurt his eyes, was far different from that harrowing night he and Tosh had spent as prisoners in the house of those cannibals. This was nothing like that time at all.

In fact, he felt quite relaxed and safe here, he thought, looking around him at the open field behind the ship. If they'd been hemmed in by trees, he might have felt a bit more nervous, but this was open enough to allay any fears he might still have had.

It was a lovely sight to behold; the brilliant emerald green carpet of grass, with clumps of bright yellow buttercups scattered here and there, and the brilliant blue canopy of sky overhead. If Ianto hadn't known that they were on Earth, he might have called it paradise.

Actually, he would refer to it as paradise once the Doctor was out of the Tardis and here in his arms, he told himself with a smile. All it took to make him happier than he'd ever been was having his love next to him, to hold the Doctor close to his heart.

Another smile crossed his features as he heard the Time Lord walking across the grass behind him; he leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows as his lover sat down beside him, looking over at the Doctor as the other man settled himself on the blanket.

"This is lovely, sweetheart," Ianto said softly, his sincerity obvious in his words. "It's so peaceful and quiet here. I don't know if I'd want to stay here for a long time, but for the afternoon, just to have some place where we can be alone together, it's beautiful."

"I thought you'd like a place that was peaceful -- even though I was a bit afraid that it might remind you too much of the past," the Doctor said, his voice sympathetic. "But you're getting over that, slowly but surely. It was a traumatic experience, Ianto. It'll take a while."

Ianto nodded, lying down on the blanket with his arms behind his head and looking up at the viridian sky above him. It stretched for what looked like miles all around them, punctuated by fluffy bits of cloud here and there, like sheep cavorting through the blue vastness.

"It gets pushed further and further away every time we're in a place like this, and I can feel peace and contentment around me instead of tension and fear," he said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Even the air here is different. It's a completely peaceful feeling."

"That's what I wanted," the Doctor said, sounding satisfied. Ianto opened his eyes to find that the Time Lord was stretched out beside him, lying on his side and studying Ianto with an intense gaze that was, at the moment, fixed on his face.

"You're so beautiful," Ianto whispered, raising a hand to cup the Time Lord's cheek, then stroking his fingertips over the other man's soft skin. "Every time I look at you, I can't believe that I could be lucky enough to be the man you chose to bond with."

"And not only for this lifetime -- but for every other," the Doctor murmured, his gaze not leaving Ianto's face. He reached out to stroke the young man's dark hair back from his face, his words as soft as the summer breeze across Ianto's skin. "For all eternity, Ianto. Forever."

"It's hard to get that idea through my head," Ianto told him, his voice still soft and filled with wonder. "I'm immortal now, and you won't be in danger of regenerating into a new body and a new personality. We really can be with each other forever."

"When Jack first became immortal, I was afraid of what he was because I didn't understand it," the Doctor said, sounding a little ashamed. "This time, I'm able to deal with it head-on. Not only because I've seen it happen before -- though not in the same way -- but because it's you."

"I want to think that this is the best thing that could have possibly happened to us," Ianto said, cupping the Doctor's face in his hands and gazing into the Time Lord's dark eyes. "I want to hold on to the feeling that because of this, forever will happen for us."

"It will," the Doctor whispered. "It always would have, even if we weren't always together in the physical sense. You're the man I've bonded with, Ianto. You're a part of my hearts and soul. You'd always have been with me in spirit. But I have to say that this way is better."

Ianto nodded, smiling as he sat up and slid an arm around the Doctor's waist to pull his lover closer to him. "This way is much better," he said, brushing a gentle kiss across the other man's lips. "And you know what else I'm enjoying?"

"What's that?" the Doctor asked, the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. Ianto raised a hand to trace those lines; he loved looking at them. They spoke of a life well and happily lived, a life that he was part of, a life that he shared.

"Being here, on a beautiful sunny day, lying here on a blanket beneath the blue sky with you," Ianto answered, his voice catching in his throat. "I would never have thought it was possible for me to be this happy, Doctor. That I could feel this content."

"I want to spend the rest of our lives making you happy, Ianto," the Doctor answered, blinking as he looked down, away from Ianto. The young man realized that his lover was near tears; he hadn't meant to make the Doctor cry with his declaration.

"You make me happy just by being with me," Ianto told him, pulling the other man closer. "Not only here under this beautiful blue sky, but anywhere we are. It doesn't matter if we're on the Tardis, or in another place and time. As long as I'm with you, then I'm happy."

"All it takes to make me happy is knowing that you're here with me, and that you love me," the Doctor told him, his voice soft and a little wobbly. "And knowing that you're with me because you want to be. Not because I've asked you to come with me."

"You never coerced me into being with you, if that's what you worried about, Doctor," Ianto assured his lover. "I was the one who made the choice to be here, remember?" He smiled as he said the words, pressing another kiss to the Doctor's cheek.

"I know .... but there was always a part of me that worried," the Time Lord sighed, leaning back into the young man's embrace. "Now I know that I don't have to worry. You're here because you want to be -- and because you love me. Not for any other reason."

"No other reason but that you've captured my heart," Ianto intoned, placing a hand over his heart as he smiled at his lover. "And that you can give me times like this, beneath a blue sky on a blanket with the man I love in my arms."

The Doctor turned in Ianto's embrace to slide his own arms around his young lover, and their lips met in a heady, lingering kiss. The fluffy clouds moved through the blue sky above them, the bright sun seeming to smile down on the two men as their bodies and hearts came together.

***