Birthday [Gathering]

[ffyddlon]

It had snuck up on them both, in a way, but when Gwen realises her birthday and Ianto's are only three days apart, they come to the joint decision that a party at the Hub would be just the thing to celebrate. There's a lot to celebrate, after all, not the least of which is the fact that Gwen's not fifteen any longer and she spends much of the day on Friday helping Ianto get the place ready for a party.

She doesn't know as many people on the island as she'd like but there's a few that she's really fond of and she hopes will show up.

She's even found a dress to wear for the occasion, deep red with a full skirt that swishes when she moves and for once, Gwen's honestly happy to be on the island.

Comments

[ffyddlon]

Gwen doesn't really know the pregnant woman who's showed up so she assumes she's a friend of Ianto's but Ianto's friends, on the whole, have been welcoming to her and Gwen doesn't see why she shouldn't say hello.

"Hi, I'm Gwen," she says, offering a hand. "Friend of Ianto's?"

[bennet_beauty]

"I am," Jane concurred in reply, a brighter smile appearing on her face given that she's much happier to be able to speak to someone rather than continue to stand so awkwardly. She adjusts the small carrying-container in her hands to shift it, extending a hand in the modern way. "I'm Jane Lipton. Ianto's been my friend for some time and, well, I could not miss his party!"

[ffyddlon]

She's kind of infectious, this Jane Lipton, and Gwen can't help but smile as she shakes her hand. She'd seemed a little nervous, before, and Gwen hopes she can ease that some by being warm and friendly until Ianto's free to talk.

"Have you been here very long, Jane? On the island, I mean. I just came back in May, myself."

[bennet_beauty]

"As of August the first, I have been here for five years," Jane admitted with a slightly amused laugh, as though she could hardly believe such a thing herself. "When I first arrived here, I was young and single and thought myself ready to be an old maid. With two children, I can safely say that is no longer the case."

[ffyddlon]

She's old fashioned, this Jane Lipton, and she reminds Gwen of the books she had to read in school: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility. The island's just strange enough that Jane might be from one of those books but Gwen thinks it's rude to ask, so she decides not to. Maybe she can ask Ianto later, since they're friends.

"Can't imagine being here five whole years, Jane. Seems all a little mad I'm here at all, much less long enough to settle down and have a family. Is your husband still here, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"My current husband is, yes," she replied, thinking that it answered the question adequately and should Gwen read into it, she might understand that the issue was not quite as simple as it might have been. "I have loved it here, truly," she insisted. "Ianto has been such a good part. And he does talk about you so! I feel as though I know you!"

[ffyddlon]

Gwen sobers for a moment, wondering if the first husband died, but then she thinks maybe he disappeared; people tend to disappear on this island almost more than they do in Cardiff. Gwen wishes she knew the how and why of it.

"Yeah? What's Ianto said, then? All good things, I hope?"

[bennet_beauty]

"He has been nothing but effusive in his praise," Jane insisted. And even if he had not said lovely things, Jane did not think that she could think ill of anyone, especially given their association to someone she cared such a great deal about. "I do know it is your birthday as well, but I was not sure if I should bring you a rabbit as well," she said, lifting the small cage in her hands.

[ffyddlon]

"Oh, no, just having friends around is enough for me," Gwen promises, beaming at her. "I wouldn't want to have to find a present for someone I didn't know, next to impossible. Just you being here is a present, I promise. Now I get the chance to know you myself, yeah?"

[bennet_beauty]

"That is the loveliest thing that I can imagine," Jane confirmed, wishing to settle the rabbit down upon the ground. It was lying dormant, but with her young one kicking her constantly, she seemed to have action appearing from each angle. "How did you know Ianto back home?" she enquired.

[ffyddlon]

Gwen gestures toward the rabbit cage as she speaks, wanting to set it down so she doesn't have to hold it. "Can I put that down for you? And Ianto, he worked with me back home, with Torchwood?"

[bennet_beauty]

Jane smiled politely, not wishing to seem outwardly emotional. "Please," she exhaled, grateful for such a help. "I do believe he has mentioned it, upon occasion. He has been so wonderful, I imagine he was the perfect man of employ. I know my Papa would thrill to have a man like him in his books."

[ffyddlon]

"Ianto's a perfect employee anywhere," Gwen agrees, taking the cage from her and setting it down somewhere safe. "Can't say I'm as organized but I do my absolute best. So, is your Papa here, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"In a manner of speaking," she responded, her smile turning to one of great love and joy. "In a manner of speaking, I have two. I feel I am a greatly lucky woman for such a fact. Both the Doctor and Jack O'Neill have been so gracious and wonderful and kind to me. I hardly know how I have been this lucky."

[ffyddlon]

The Doctor, at least, was familiar as a concept if not as an actual person and Gwen nods, grinning.

"Very lucky, then. So I guess you're close to Rob, then, if you know the Doctor?"

[bennet_beauty]

"I do know him, yes. We are not close, particularly," Jane spoke, but she did not think they were quite so distant. "We are good friends and we speak when we can, though I do think he is not sure what to make of me. The Doctor treats me as a daughter, but he and I are mostly the same age."

[ffyddlon]

"Ah, that can be tricky," Gwen says, nodding along. "I haven't gotten any father figures along the way but I guess if I do, I'll be as lucky as you are. Do you know Jack too, then?"

[bennet_beauty]

"Harkness?" she replied brightly, as she always seemed to do when the topic of Jack arrived. "Yes, of course! He has been so lovely and so kind. I do not think I have ever met a kinder man. He has been so good to me since I arrived, as well."