Who. Sterling Swift and Jonathan Matthews. What. Sterling attempts to cheer up his favorite doctor. Where. The Torchwood Hub. When. Thursday morning. Warnings. TBD.
Jonathan possessed every right to be upset. After the brutal murder of his parents, his younger sister's sudden disappearance, it'd rendered the reincarnate of Dr. Owen Harper far more than upset. It'd left him broken. If there was one feeling that Sterling and Captain Jack Harkness understood, it was precisely that. These days were hard, growing even harder still, but Sterling did know that none of them had to face it alone. He'd left his door open to any of the Torchwood employees, considering them friends, not simply coworkers. He wanted very much to help each and every one of them provide them with a listening ear and a second home. Jonathan was no different. In his own way, he was, but he was special. Jack knew Owen better than any of the reincarnates that came and went from their line of work, and because of this, and so much more, that made him worth looking after.
The place was empty. He hadn't called anyone in on short notice, and no one was around to finish up any leftover work. The silence was almost deafening. Sterling tapped his pen against his desk; there were stacks of papers he'd yet to look over drowning the area in responsibility. Who knew leading a team like this would involve so much paperwork? It'd been about three hours now and every pile was neatly arranged in order of priority to actually read-over, so he figured a break was probably for the best. Right? Right. Jack didn't see any harm in it. He was the restless sort, too. Sterling knew that fact way too well.
He stood upright, swinging the fallen braces up and over his shoulders. Filling out the Captain's clothing was becoming less of an issue, now that Torchwood was consuming his life. Of course, Sterling wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing as of yet. Even if Jack had insisted all along that they were becoming, and if he was to look the part, he might as well do it right. He strolled out of Jack's office, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, when a familiar sound caught his ear. He turned his head, noticing the noises leaving Owen's old lab. Sterling must have missed him coming in. That was a rare feat. Then again, he did have the unfortunate habit of dozing off occasionally during his "very thorough" dealings with the paperwork.
Stepping down the small flight of stairs and taking a few long strides, he leaned his arm against the open doorway, watching Jonathan's back move around. He smirked to himself, unsure if this was because the sight was familiar, or the fact that he simply enjoyed watching Jonathan. It didn't matter in the end. Even if the view was nice, he knew Jonathan was probably feeling less than. Something had to be done about that. Not tomorrow, not next week. Today. They'd had the time. Whatever Jonathan was doing couldn't have been terribly important. The world wasn't due to end tomorrow (as far as he knew), so it could wait. Perhaps this was the break the both of them needed. Sterling nodded to himself, coming to a decision, and placed his hands in his trouser pockets.