Juette was awoken by a sweet smell filling his room. He tried to reach for Ianto, but the man had already long since gotten up — his side of the bed was cold.
Juette wasted no time putting on a pair of socks and making his way to the dining room.
There was a black bag adorned with golden ribbons sitting squarely in the middle of the table.
"Happy Valentine's day, lamb," said Ianto when he saw Juette.
Juette pointed at the bag. "Is that for me?"
- "Yes," Ianto replied.
Juette grabbed the bag and tried to untie the ribbons, but, seeing him struggle, Ianto handed him a pair of scissors.
"Oh my God," Juette said when he saw the beige and furry top of a head peeking out of the packaging. "Is that—?"
He quickly reached inside of the bag and pulled out the gift.
"It is!" he said, holding a plush in the air. "It's Nounours!"
- "Not quite," said Ianto. "He's a little smaller. I couldn't find one the correct size."
- "I don't care," Juette said with a wide smile. "He's still so cute."
He hugged the plush tight, then walked over to his partner, cupping his face with both hands to make him lean down for a kiss.
"Oh, I also made crêpes for breakfast," said Ianto.
"I didn't get you anything," Juette said once they were seated to eat.
- "I don't mind."
- "I wanted us to go on a date, but I wasn't sure what you'd wanna do, so I was going to ask you and— well, I told Lois and Rupesh we wanted the day off anyway."
- "Is there anywhere you were thinking of?"
- "I was wondering if we could go to the Millennium Centre? Maybe they've got something nice we can see?"
Ianto winced. If there was one building that reminded him of Jack, it was the Millennium Centre: as ridiculous as it sounded, it had been one of the Captain's favourite roofs to stand on, and he'd even brought Ianto up there on his first day of work. But Jack's betrayal still stung — it had been a year and a half since he'd abandoned the remainder of his team on Earth, and they still had no idea where he'd gone.
Juette saw the expression on Ianto's face and reached across the table to squeeze his hand.
"I'd rather not," said Ianto quietly.
Juette chewed on a mouthful of sugary crêpes as he thought the matter over.
"Hmmm," he said, "maybe we could go to a museum? If you know any?"
- "Of course I do," Ianto replied with a smirk. "I know everything, don't I?"
- "How could I have forgotten," Juette giggled.
- "We could go to the National Museum Cardiff," said Ianto. They opened a new Discovery Gallery last July." Then, getting excited, he added: "They have dinosaur fossils!"
- "We absolutely have to go, then."
The museum wasn't open on Mondays, but these things had never stopped Torchwood before. Juette was holding onto Ianto's arm as they wandered through the art gallery.
- "I can't believe they let us in," Juette laughed. "Like, university researchers? Do I look like I could have a PhD?"
- "It would seem that you do, Docteur Reines," replied Ianto with his usual deadpan.
Juette shook with another fit of laughter until a janitor entered the room — the two men immediately stepped away from each other and pretended to be intensely focused on the painting in front of them. Juette even scribbled something down on the notebook in his hands for good measure.
He waited until he was sure the employee had left before he started giggling again. He nuzzled his head against Ianto's shoulder and laced their fingers together again.
"I'm glad the lie worked. This is a beautiful place."
- "I'll be sure to remember this cover identity for next year, then."
Their visit continued peacefully until they reached the Evolution of Wales exhibition and both their phones rang with one of the automatic emergency alarms.
It turned out to be nothing, and while Ianto had offered to stay at work during the afternoon, Lois had insisted he and Juette go home and enjoy their day off. To make up for the fact Ianto didn't get to see the dinosaurs he'd wanted to see, Juette let him pick the takeout they ordered on their way home.
They spent the rest of the day watching movies and eating snacks.