Ficlet: Invasion Of Privacy
Jun. 6th, 2025 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Invasion Of Privacy
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 605
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: As far as Ianto is concerned, this is a disaster.
Written For: The prompt ‘any, any, i found your journal’, at
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threesentenceficathon.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
It was Ianto’s worst nightmare, or one of them anyway, come to pass. How could he have let it happen? He wasn’t usually so careless, just leaving things lying around for every Tom, Dick, and Jack to stumble across, and yet…
“I found your diary,” Jack said, looking so smug and self-satisfied that Ianto felt a sudden urge to punch him in the mouth. Not that it would do any good, since the damage had already been done… Jack didn’t need to say the rest, that he’d READ Ianto’s diary, cover to cover, probably more than once, because of course he had, that went without saying. Jack would never just find and return something so personal without thoroughly examining it, he wasn’t that noble, and besides, he’d been wanting a look at Ianto’s most private thoughts ever since he’d found out the diary existed, thanks to an unfortunate slip of Ianto’s tongue one night, when they’d both been drinking. He never would have passed up the chance to peruse its contents.
Still, Ianto snatched the diary from Jack’s hands and clutched it protectively against his chest, trying not to let Jack see how unnerved he was. It was a good thing he hadn’t written anything in it yet about the other night, he’d been too busy with other things, but one thing was certain: he was really going to have to find a safer place to hide it…
The only problem was, where? He couldn’t leave it at home, because Jack was in the habit of letting himself in whenever he wanted, and snooping through Ianto’s drawers. Ianto hadn’t even given him a key, but little details like that never stopped Jack. Anyway, the Hub was so much bigger, with loads of great hiding places. The downside there was that it also had CCTV cameras everywhere, making it easy for Jack to see where he went, and therefore figure out where to search… Ianto was well aware that Jack liked to watch him going about his work. Kinky bastard probably got off on it.
Still, there were sections of the Hub, especially in the lower levels, that didn’t have camera coverage, and there were things in the archives that were so mind-numbingly boring that Jack would never bother to look at them, it wouldn’t even cross his mind… Ianto realised he would have to play Jack at his own game and be even sneakier than his lover if he wanted to keep the contents of his diary private in future, even if that felt a bit like closing the stable door after the horse already bolted. Was there any point in hiding a diary Jack had already read, maybe memorised, possibly even photocopied for further study?
Maybe he should simply write his diary entries in code in future; that would drive Jack completely out of his mind, trying to decipher it… No, perhaps that wouldn’t be wise. Knowing Jack, he would probably photocopy anything he couldn’t read, then give the pages to Tosh to decode, which would only serve to embarrass his friend once she realised what she was working on…
Okay, that idea was out. But perhaps he could get a lockbox and store it in Myfanwy’s nest. The old girl could be territorial. She didn’t mind Ianto mucking out up there, but she didn’t take kindly to interlopers. There were some things she wouldn’t allow, even when bribed with chocolate. Myf’s nest might well be the most secure hiding place in the entire Hub; it was something to think about, but in the meantime, he wasn’t letting his diary out of his sight.
The End
“I found your diary,” Jack said, looking so smug and self-satisfied that Ianto felt a sudden urge to punch him in the mouth. Not that it would do any good, since the damage had already been done… Jack didn’t need to say the rest, that he’d READ Ianto’s diary, cover to cover, probably more than once, because of course he had, that went without saying. Jack would never just find and return something so personal without thoroughly examining it, he wasn’t that noble, and besides, he’d been wanting a look at Ianto’s most private thoughts ever since he’d found out the diary existed, thanks to an unfortunate slip of Ianto’s tongue one night, when they’d both been drinking. He never would have passed up the chance to peruse its contents.
Still, Ianto snatched the diary from Jack’s hands and clutched it protectively against his chest, trying not to let Jack see how unnerved he was. It was a good thing he hadn’t written anything in it yet about the other night, he’d been too busy with other things, but one thing was certain: he was really going to have to find a safer place to hide it…
The only problem was, where? He couldn’t leave it at home, because Jack was in the habit of letting himself in whenever he wanted, and snooping through Ianto’s drawers. Ianto hadn’t even given him a key, but little details like that never stopped Jack. Anyway, the Hub was so much bigger, with loads of great hiding places. The downside there was that it also had CCTV cameras everywhere, making it easy for Jack to see where he went, and therefore figure out where to search… Ianto was well aware that Jack liked to watch him going about his work. Kinky bastard probably got off on it.
Still, there were sections of the Hub, especially in the lower levels, that didn’t have camera coverage, and there were things in the archives that were so mind-numbingly boring that Jack would never bother to look at them, it wouldn’t even cross his mind… Ianto realised he would have to play Jack at his own game and be even sneakier than his lover if he wanted to keep the contents of his diary private in future, even if that felt a bit like closing the stable door after the horse already bolted. Was there any point in hiding a diary Jack had already read, maybe memorised, possibly even photocopied for further study?
Maybe he should simply write his diary entries in code in future; that would drive Jack completely out of his mind, trying to decipher it… No, perhaps that wouldn’t be wise. Knowing Jack, he would probably photocopy anything he couldn’t read, then give the pages to Tosh to decode, which would only serve to embarrass his friend once she realised what she was working on…
Okay, that idea was out. But perhaps he could get a lockbox and store it in Myfanwy’s nest. The old girl could be territorial. She didn’t mind Ianto mucking out up there, but she didn’t take kindly to interlopers. There were some things she wouldn’t allow, even when bribed with chocolate. Myf’s nest might well be the most secure hiding place in the entire Hub; it was something to think about, but in the meantime, he wasn’t letting his diary out of his sight.
The End
