Ficlet: A Suitable Disguise

[bk_forever]

Title: A Suitable Disguise

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Ianto, mentions Jack

Rating: G

Spoilers: Fragments, hints at Cyberwoman.

Summary: Ianto’s suits are essential to him.

Word Count: 380

Written For: juliet316’s prompt ‘Torchwood, Ianto, in a way, the suits were his armor’ at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.

It was fair to say that Ianto was devoted to his suits. He also took exquisite care in choosing which to wear, coordinating it with the perfect shirt and tie combination to get the most out of his chosen attire each day. He hadn’t always been that way, but since joining Torchwood Three, they’d become essential to him.

It wasn’t that he really had to wear them; the rest of the team dressed casually and no one expected him to do otherwise. But he’d seen the way Harkness looked at him that first time he’d worn one. The suit had got him the job as surely as the pterodactyl had. He’d spent most of what money he had left from caring for Lisa on a couple of better quality suits and they’d been well worth the expense. He knew he looked good in them, he had the right build to carry them off, but that wasn’t the real reason that he’d taken to wearing them.

In a way, his suits were his armour. Every morning when he slid his long limbs into the finely tailored trousers and jacket, he felt that he was arming himself for the day ahead, hiding his vulnerability beneath the calm, professional demeanour that went with them. When he wore a suit he looked older, more capable, and more self-assured. No one could see how scared he was, or how lost and desperate he felt. All they saw was what he wanted them to see, a man in full control of himself and everything around him. That was if they noticed him at all. Suits, it seemed, were as good a camouflage as they were a protection.

He felt safe in his suits; secure in the knowledge that if his new colleagues did happen to notice him, they’d have no inkling of the terrible secrets he was hiding from them. He was simply the butler, the general dogsbody, the guy in the suit who did all the jobs they couldn’t be bothered to do themselves and that suited him just fine. If they only saw the suit, he might just get away with what he was doing behind their backs. It had to work, because Lisa’s life depended on it and he couldn’t let her down.

The End

Comments

[too-beauty.livejournal.com]

What a magnificent description! I never thought of Ianto's suits as a camouflage

[bk_forever]

I slipped off-prompt on this one, it was mean to be the suit as armour, but it got away from me. I think it definitely is as kind of camouflage though, concealing everything he doesn't want the team to see.

Thank you!

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

Suits, it seemed, were as good a camouflage as they were a protection.

That's very perceptive of you! I never thought of that way, but it's true. No one really notices a man in a suit. Well, they might notice how handsome he is if he's Ianto, but we mentally tend to put men in suits in the "safe" category (especially in the workplace) and not pay much attention to what they're up to.

Well-done!

[bk_forever]

A well-cut suit is the ultimate camouflage, especially in environments where you expect to see suits I guess.

Thank you!

[carinas-carinae.livejournal.com]

Really lovely. So true, and really so sad.

[bk_forever]

Thank you!

Yes, it's so tragic. He did everything to save Lisa, and it all came to nothing.

But by then, the suits were part of him, Jack appreciated them and a new love story began.

[owensheart.livejournal.com]

Sadly it was all for naught as Lisa was already gone. great story.

[bk_forever]

Yes, though Ianto didn't know it at the time.

Thank you!

[milady-dragon.livejournal.com]

I love Ianto and his suits, but they really are a form of armor for him. The only thing they can't protect: his heart, because he gave it up to Jack willingly later on.

[bk_forever]

He was wearing a disguise that came to embody the man. In a way, he grew into the person he at first pretended to be. It didn't Lisa though, not in the end.

Thank you.

[teaboyfan.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! I'd always seen the suits as armor, but of course they're even more camouflage. "Clothes make the man," and nobody looked behind the disguise until it was almost too late for everybody. The irony is that it was already too late for Lisa. Amazing that you are still panning gold nuggets out of the apparently-exhausted Torchwood river.

[bk_forever]

Thank you!

Poor Ianto, in a way he was hiding himself from the truth as much as he was hiding from everyone's sight. He tried so hard to save someone who was already beyond saving I think because he didn't know how to stop trying. Lisa was the only thing keeping him going after Canary Wharf. If he stopped trying to save her, his entire sense of purpose would be gone, what would be the point of trying to go on?

I think there are always new angles to be found when writing about characters and a fandom you love. I still have ideas popping up, so I'll keep writing until I run out.

[timelordshines.livejournal.com]

Love the title!
And the fic of course.
*Hugs poor Ianto* If his camouflage hadn't been quite so good maybe everything wouldn't have gone quite so spectacularly to shit...

[bk_forever]

Yeah, if only people had noticed and found out about Lisa, so much pain could have been prevented.

Thank you!

[maldeluxx.livejournal.com]

They might work now, but even this form of armor isn't completely crack-free. He does look good in them, though ::)

[bk_forever]

All armour has its points of vulnerability.


Suits suit him. Pun intended.

Thank you!

[asia27.livejournal.com]

You are so right about suits being armor; a suit actually reflects that person's personality as much as anything else. No two people wear the same suit in the same manner. I learned that lesson in Tailoring very early on when I did a garment for me and a friend. I wore it and it looked more conservative, but the same garment on her took on a life of its own, practically bouncing when she walked; that garment was later stolen from her. Very, very perceptive of you!

[bk_forever]

Well, I was just following the prompt, although I've often though that Ianto's suits started out as a form of concealment/protection, allowing him to project an image or himself that he wanted people to buy into while he was busy behind their backs trying to save Lisa.

It's the same with any form of clothing, everything looks different on different people, what suits one doesn't suit everyone. My friend and I used to go shopping together and we were about the same build, but what looked f=good on one of us didn't necessarily work on the other.

Thank you.

[black59.livejournal.com]

very well expressed.
quite right.

[bk_forever]

Thank you! Ianto's suits are more than just clothes to him.

[jedi-harkness.livejournal.com]

Brilliant character study. I always thought the suits were his armor. I can only imagine all the emotions he went through when he tried to save Lisa.

[bk_forever]

He must have been so tangled up inside, wanting to save her, feeling guilty at betraying the others, desperate to be ignore even while it was killing him inside.

Thank you!