Title: Butterfly Wings
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3
Prompt: 8, Butterfly
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.

***

The Doctor looked around him at the tropical paradise he and Ianto had wandered into on the pleasure planet they were visiting, a smile on his face. It was beautiful here; it had been a long time since they'd found a place so relaxing and peaceful.

"This reminds me of some of the places I've seen in brochures that I've always wanted to visit," Ianto mused, coming up behind the Doctor and sliding his arms around the slender man's waist. "Only those places were on Earth, not on another planet."

"In another galaxy from Earth, at that," the Doctor said, turning his head to look lovingly at the younger man. "I've been on this planet many times in the past, but I've never found this part of it before. So it's new to me, too."

Ianto let his eyes roam around the glade they were in, taking in the beauty of his surroundings before his eyes returned to the man in his arms.

"I've seen a lot of beautiful places before," he said softly, pulling the Doctor more closely against him. "But I can honestly say that I've never been in a place as gorgeous as this. Though there's definitely one thing I know of that's far more beautiful."

"And what's that?" The Doctor raised his brows in question, a curious expression settling onto his features. "I've been to so many parts of Earth, in so many different times, but I don't think I've ever seen anything there as lovely as this place."

"It's not a place, it's a person," Ianto murmured, bending his head to brush a kiss across the Doctor's smooth cheek. "The most incredible person I've ever known. You, Doctor. Nothing in the world could be more beautiful to me than you."

The Time Lord blinked, lost for words. Ianto could see the surprise in his eyes; he obviously hadn't expected to hear something like that.

Ianto searched his mind for a way to lighten the moment; he didn't want the Doctor getting emotional and bursting into tears, not here. But the Time Lord already seemed to be recovering from his momentary surprise when he spoke.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, love," he murmured, a pink flush suffusing his pale cheeks. "You know that I feel the same way about you. There's no place -- and no person -- who could be as beautiful to me as you are."

"This is better than any of the places I've seen in Earth," Ianto said, looking around at the lush vegetataion that surrounded them. "I'm sure that the people who take care of all this have to spend a lot of time on it. It can't look like this naturally."

"I'm sure it's well-maintained," the Doctor said absently. "But what's important is that it's here for us -- a place to enjoy being together."

Ianto's arms tightened around the Doctor's waist as he nodded, nuzzling the Time Lord's cheek with his own. "It's so beautiful here," he said, his voice soft with wonder. "I wouldn't have thought a place could look like this if I wasn't actually here."

"Pleasure planets are like that," the Doctor told him, his eyes following the flight of a brightly-colored butterfly as it spiralled through the air in front of them. "There are so many beautiful things here to appreciate -- not just our surroundings."

The Time Lord raised his hand in front of him, as though he was reaching out to capture the butterfly in his grasp. The bright blue-and-green creature landed lightly on his wrist, wings fluttering slightly, sitting there as though it belonged with the Doctor.

Ianto couldn't keep a smile from his face at the sight. He knew that the Doctor could charm anyone -- apparently that ability extended to animals as well.

The Doctor reached out his other hand to softly stroke one of the butterfly's wings with a fingertip; the creature submitted itself to the touch of those fingers, looking as though it enjoyed being touched by the man it was so precariously balanced on.

"There are few things in the universe so fragile as butterfly wings," the Doctor whispered, speaking softly so as not to make the brightly-colored creature on his wrist take flight again. "Treat them very carefully, Ianto. They're far too easy to crush into nothingness."

Ianto nodded, watching as the butterfly dipped its head when the Doctor's fingertip brushed over its wings again. He raised his head as another butterfly, this one a stunning mixture of orange and red, flew close over their heads, a startled gasp coming from throat.

The sound must have startled the butterfly; in the blink of an eye, it was gone from the Doctor's wrist, zooming away in pursuit of what could have been its mate.

The two men watched the butterfly flutter along, both of them smiling, lost in thought. It was Ianto who first broke the spell of silence around them, heaving a sigh and resting his chin on the Doctor shoulder as his eyes followed the creature's flight.

"A butterfly's wings are so gossamer," he mused, his voice soft and husky. "But no more so than a relationships can be. You have to handle them both carefully and nurture them. They grow out of love, and you have to make sure that love is constant."

"I couldn't agree more," the Doctor murmured, his eyes fixed on the blue-and-green wings of the butterfly that had been resting on his wrist until a few moments ago. "Fortunately, a relationship doesn't have the tendency to fly away as quickly as that butterfly did."

"It depends on who you're involved with," Ianto told him, his voice still soft and low. "You're with me, Doctor. You don't have to worry about me ever deciding to fly away."

"I know you won't, Ianto," his lover answered, leaning back into his arms and turning his head, those dark eyes locking with Ianto's own blue-grey gaze. "I don't have any worries on that score. I might with anyone else, but you -- you're my soul mate."

"You know that the bond holding us together isn't as fragile as a butterfly's wings," Ianto told him, one hand raising to stroke against the Doctor's cheek. "That bond is stronger than anything I've ever known, Doctor. It's never going to be destroyed."

"That's something I can hold close to my hearts," the Doctor said softly, turning in Ianto's arms to face his lover and twine his arms around the young man's neck. "I've had ample proof that our bond isn't going to disintegrate, Ianto. I know it's going to last -- and grow stronger with time."

Ianto's eyes closed as he leaned closer to the Doctor, their lips meeting and clinging for several long moments, the two of them temporarily forgetting where they were.

They were startled by the return of both butterflies; the blue-and-green creature landed on the Doctor's shoulder, while the other settled itself on Ianto's. Both men stood still, watching the wings of both butterflies flutter in the soft breeze.

The two of them were silent, their eyes on the gossamer butterfly wings flashing their myriad colors in the sunshine. When their lips met again, they didn't realize that both butterflies had taken to the air, their colorful wings fluttering as they silently left the lovers to their own devices.

***