Ianto ducked as Owen’s shirt flew past his head, climbing awkwardly over the two to get to “his” corner. That, that was slightly weird. How many men out there sat in a corner and watched two men have sex before crawling, more often than not, over to sleep beside them? Well, probably quite a few, but it didn’t make it any less weird. It was… unsettling.

Ianto closed his eyes, mind too busy to meditate and pulled up his shields, slowly and carefully, they were still a little shaky, until the room disappeared in a blur.

He woke up in the mornings, rested and relaxed, with two ex-lovers plastered against him, one to each side. He had tried to stay away, to give whatever Jack and Owen had a chance. They didn’t seem so concerned, and in three weeks had managed to come up with a complete range of excuses to keep Ianto in their bed.

And now. Now, there was no convincing himself it was only temporary, that things would go back to normal, and Jack and Owen would be fine, and Ianto himself would go back home and sleep in a huge, empty, bed.

Now it was permanent. How long were they going to continue..this? Whatever this was? Was there really no ending it, and was that what any of them really wanted anyway?

Ianto continued to let his mind run in circles until it tired out. He sighed and finally began to sink into mediation. He had just started to relax when something jostled his leg. He cracked open an eye in time to see Owen reach out and shake his leg again before the doctor turned his attention back to Jack.

Owen made an annoyed noise. "Jack? Yoo-hoo? Fuck. Ianto he zoned!"

Ianto reached across the small space and poked Jack in the side. He came back with a yelp and a shake of his head

“Zoned?” Jack asked, and then sighed. “Dammit. We didn’t have any problems before! Why now?

Ianto shook his head. "I don't know. I think maybe we’re all just under some stress. Yes Jack I know.” Ianto rolled his eyes. “ ‘Orgasms are nature’s stress relief’ “

Owen snorted. Jack brought up that point often, usually in the most inappropriate situations.

Ianto retreated back into his corner; tucking his legs underneath him “Try again. See what happens."

Jack and Owen cautiously went back to what they had been doing, and Ianto went back to trying to ignore them both.

He chewed his lip. He couldn't lose him self totally in meditation if they were going to need him. He sighed and settled for focusing on his shields to make sure nothing leaked though.

His eyes drifted to the side and saw the black dog staring at him. It seemed to be a reflection, as if the brick were a mirror or glass. Which was fine with Ianto. There was hardly enough for the three men and a mattress in the little room, without taking imaginary animals into account. He continued to watch the dog watch him. It was giving him a look that Ianto knew well. On Ianto’s own face it usually meant, “You are so stupid, it hurts me to be near you.” Ianto had found it a useful expression when Owen broke out the Welsh jokes.

Jack voice intruded into the staring contest.

"Owen? Dammit! Ianto?" Ianto reached over and shook Owen lightly.

"Fuck!” Owen gasped. “How is this going to work if we zone every two minutes?"

The dog looked pointedly at Ianto and then jerked his head towards the other two men. Great. The dog was giving orders.

"Uh," Ianto rubbed his face, trying desperately not to sigh in annoyance, or blush like a schoolgirl. "Maybe it would work if I was closer?"

"You're two feet away, Yan! You can't get any closer without being on top of us!"

Ianto sighed and moved up to the head of the bed and rearranged him self, nudging Owen out of his way in the small space, he curled one leg up under him, the other stretched out. Once he was settled, he motioned Owen back into place.

Ianto reached out, circling his fingers around Owen’s wrist, feeling one of Jack’s hands come to rest lightly on his leg.

"Just, uh, try to keep in contact with me." he felt his ears heat up and closed his eyes, wincing slightly as his head thumped back against the wall. He tried desperately not to think about how close he was to the other two men.

Owen let out a laugh. "Jack seriously...he looks like he's laying back and thinking of Wales!"

"Being that I'm Welsh,” Ianto said, keeping his eyes firmly shut. “Don’t you two have anything better to do than stare at me?”

“You sure you don’t want to…” Owen leaned forward, breath warm against Ianto’s lips.

“Owen.” Ianto warned. “Get to work"

"So romantic..." Jack muttered, but seemed to take his advice, distracting the doctor with a kiss.

Ianto tried to ignoring what they were doing, but it was rather hard, what with the noises and all, and Owen banging into him occasionally. Determined to distract himself, Ianto began toying with his shield. Jack had been right. He needed strong shields, and that would never work if he couldn’t control them.

He tried carefully lowering his shield a hair to see if he could let feelings in without being over whelmed by them, and bit his lip, trying to keep from reacting as he got hit by a wave of lust, His eyes had opened in surprise, and he found himself staring at Jack, who despite being somewhat occupied was staring back.

"Ianto?" Jack asked. "Are you okay?" he spaced his words between kisses and bites to Owen’s neck. "Your heart rate just spiked. It normally goes down around now."

Owen had turned by now, eyeing Ianto.

"Fine Jack." Ianto reassured, testing shields that had slammed shut out the surge of emotion. He closed his eyes again, and lowered the shields, concentrating on feeling the emotions, not reacting to them. It was hard. Twin jolts of lust hit him and he gasped.

Ianto’s eyes snapped open when he felt a wave of concern, and saw Owen leaning over him, pressing his fingers against his throat. "Owen, what?"

"Jack's right, your pulse is really up."

"My shields slipped a little, it's nothing. Go back to what you were doing. It’s okay." Ianto pushed his shields back up, at least until Jack and Owen were more distracted and wouldn't panic.

Owens hand lingered against his throat for a moment longer before falling away, and the feelings of lust, love, and excitement started to brush against Ianto’s shields again.

He built them as thick as he dared, and in the silence he easily slipped into mediation.

---

Ianto again found him self in the woods, only this time alone. He took off at a run, looking for the dog. The dog had always been there before.

He stopped when he got to the familiar clearing and groaned. The dog was there, and the wolverine, and the pink...cat...thing. And they were…

Ianto sighed, quickly turning around. Honestly.

He had gotten used to seeing the wolverine and the cat’s displays. It was like some twighlight zone nature special. He usually just ignored it and went for a run, or passed the time petting and playing with the dog. He had studied shamanism, read all the books out there about working with spirit animals, and not once had any of his resources warned him that there would be…porn.

Looked like the dog had other plans. Ianto shrugged and took off at a run again, loping off when he came to a new trail. After a few minutes the path circled back and he found himself in the clearing again.

He tried a second time, finding a new trail, but the results were the same. It wasn’t fair. The woods were supposed to be a place where he could escape to, pretend he was normal for a little while without having to worry if Jack would wince at a sound he shouldn’t be able to hear, or some smell in the depths of the hub would make Owen sick. He came here to forget that one wrong thought could have him on the floor.

He glared at the scene in front of him and decided to try to leave again, with the same results. The third time he went more slowly, studying the path, reassuring himself it was different than before. He ended up in the clearing again. He simply turned and left.

After the sixth time he admitted defeat. He was tired, and out of breath, a completely new experience in the forest. He was beyond frustrated, and felt like having a nice long scream. Just as he leaned against a tree to rest, at the opposite end of the clearing from the oblivious animals, he felt the sharp tug in his chest that signaled it was time to return to the real world.

Ianto attempted to ignore it, focusing in on the branches above his head, and the next tug yanked him off of his feet, and out of the woods.

He fell, slamming back into the real world with enough force to splinter his shields.

Ianto's eyes snapped open, too much, it was all too much. He felt Jack and Owen's emotions rolls over him like waves, Love, lust, passion, crashing against his own panic, fear, and doubt, tearing into him and setting his whole being on fire. He saw briefly, as everything grew far too bright, Jack and Owen, leaning over him.

His world shattered into a million brilliant pieces.