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m_findlowTitle: Peace, interrupted
Fandom: Torchwood
Ianto sighed as he squirmed on the sofa to move into a more comfortable position. As sofas went, despite decades of taking a battering from Torchwood staff like him, dozens of crises, and even surviving them having opened the rift and destroying half the hub, it remained in good condition. Or at least as good as could be expected, and it was just as comfy now as it had been the day it had been purchased in 1974. He had the receipt to prove it, filed away in one of Torchwood's many files. Odd that they kept things like that, or maybe it was just an accident. Perhaps if he scanned the receipt with an ultraviolet light torch he'd find the real reason someone had hung on to that little scrap of paper, illuminating their hastily scrawled notes about something totally unrelated. Perhaps he should check that out. Tomorrow, of course. Tonight he didn't plan on doing any more work. The rift was behaving itself which meant a quiet night off for all parties concerned.
Perhaps he should have gone home rather than hang around here, just waiting for trouble to rear its ugly head. He had a perfectly nice sofa at home, and the eighty inch television to go with it, but there was no desire to vegetate in front of it when the best that would be showing would be some compilation show of the best bits from the last ten seasons of Strictly Come Dancing.
He snuggled his head down into the flat cushion and drew in a deep, relaxing breath, letting his eyes remain closed as he just observed the relative peace and quiet of the hub. It was never truly silent. There were dozens of things that operated twenty four hours a day, from the whirring of their computer servers to the hum of the ventilation system, the endless tinkling trickle of water running down the central tower, and the clicking of the rift machine located at its very heart. No one individual sound overpowered the others and none of them actively entered his consciousness. It was no different to the sound of passing traffic and police sirens on a normal residential street – just white noise that underpinned the soundtrack of their lives.
He didn't want to go home, not strictly speaking. Whilst this was a place of work it was also Jack's space. There was a comfort to knowing Jack was pottering around somewhere, making the place less empty than it otherwise might have felt. That was the difference between being here and going home. Home it would be just him. He never could convince Jack to stay for more than a night or two. This place, with Jack in it, was more like home than anything else.
He wasn't sleepy yet. It was still too early for that when he was accustomed to having to stay up all hours of the night. It was just nice to lie there and let the peaceful hum of the place wash over him like a blanket. He could do with more nights like this. Maybe he'd fall asleep here or maybe Jack would eventually come and find him. Either was considered acceptable.
He couldn't have been lying there more than twenty minutes when there was the noise of something that was definitely not part of the usual hum and buzz of the hub. It was distinctly organic and domestic. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look down at the floor just in front of the sofa. Standing there mewling up at him was the tiniest grey kitten he'd ever seen.
'Oh, hello,' he said. Perhaps it was strange to talk to a kitten, but when you dealt with aliens for a living, you kept a minimum level of professional scepticism. You never knew when a kitten was not simply just a kitten.
He reached down and scooped it up with his hand. It was so small it easily fit into his palm as he set it on his chest where it mewled in a less panicked tone. 'And where did you come from?' It sniffed at his shirt buttons and then decided his chest was as good a place as any to curl up for a quick nap.
'Achoo!' came a secondary unexpected sound. It was followed by two more loud sneezes that were unmistakably Jack's. He had a way of making it sound like he wasn't just ejecting a small amount of dust but half his internal organs. So much for the peace and quiet. Even his feline companion took umbrage at the disturbance.
‘Ianto!’ he called out, clocking his lover from halfway across the hub. ‘There's a damn cat in the hub!’
Well, that would explain the sneezing, Ianto thought. Jack was ridiculously allergic to cats. ‘Perhaps more than one,’ he replied, protectively clutching the tiny furball as he sat up.
‘Ah ha!’ Jack cried, spotting it.
‘A little small for your sneezes,’ Ianto said. ‘I daresay this little chap is just one of a litter that's gotten lost from his mum.’ She couldn't be far away but the hub was big.
‘Well, you'd better find it and evict it, along with all its offspring, pronto.’ He sneezed loudly again. ‘We are not having a hub overrun with mangy cats.’
‘Not even this one?’ Ianto held him up next to his face. Jack was always giving him puppy dog eyes when he wanted Ianto to cave in, and the little guy was just so cute. ‘They say controlled exposure is a proven technique to reduce allergies.’
Jack scowled at the pair of them, eyes watering and nose beginning to run. ‘Not unless you want a job elsewhere. And a new boyfriend.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Well, it was worth a try.’ He tucked his feline adoptee in his arms. ‘C’mon you. Let's go find mum and then what's say we find you a nice home? I have a niece who would love you.’
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG.
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 157 - Quiet night at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly
fandomweeklySummary: Ianto’s quiet night is interrupted in a most unexpected way.
Ianto sighed as he squirmed on the sofa to move into a more comfortable position. As sofas went, despite decades of taking a battering from Torchwood staff like him, dozens of crises, and even surviving them having opened the rift and destroying half the hub, it remained in good condition. Or at least as good as could be expected, and it was just as comfy now as it had been the day it had been purchased in 1974. He had the receipt to prove it, filed away in one of Torchwood's many files. Odd that they kept things like that, or maybe it was just an accident. Perhaps if he scanned the receipt with an ultraviolet light torch he'd find the real reason someone had hung on to that little scrap of paper, illuminating their hastily scrawled notes about something totally unrelated. Perhaps he should check that out. Tomorrow, of course. Tonight he didn't plan on doing any more work. The rift was behaving itself which meant a quiet night off for all parties concerned.
Perhaps he should have gone home rather than hang around here, just waiting for trouble to rear its ugly head. He had a perfectly nice sofa at home, and the eighty inch television to go with it, but there was no desire to vegetate in front of it when the best that would be showing would be some compilation show of the best bits from the last ten seasons of Strictly Come Dancing.
He snuggled his head down into the flat cushion and drew in a deep, relaxing breath, letting his eyes remain closed as he just observed the relative peace and quiet of the hub. It was never truly silent. There were dozens of things that operated twenty four hours a day, from the whirring of their computer servers to the hum of the ventilation system, the endless tinkling trickle of water running down the central tower, and the clicking of the rift machine located at its very heart. No one individual sound overpowered the others and none of them actively entered his consciousness. It was no different to the sound of passing traffic and police sirens on a normal residential street – just white noise that underpinned the soundtrack of their lives.
He didn't want to go home, not strictly speaking. Whilst this was a place of work it was also Jack's space. There was a comfort to knowing Jack was pottering around somewhere, making the place less empty than it otherwise might have felt. That was the difference between being here and going home. Home it would be just him. He never could convince Jack to stay for more than a night or two. This place, with Jack in it, was more like home than anything else.
He wasn't sleepy yet. It was still too early for that when he was accustomed to having to stay up all hours of the night. It was just nice to lie there and let the peaceful hum of the place wash over him like a blanket. He could do with more nights like this. Maybe he'd fall asleep here or maybe Jack would eventually come and find him. Either was considered acceptable.
He couldn't have been lying there more than twenty minutes when there was the noise of something that was definitely not part of the usual hum and buzz of the hub. It was distinctly organic and domestic. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look down at the floor just in front of the sofa. Standing there mewling up at him was the tiniest grey kitten he'd ever seen.
'Oh, hello,' he said. Perhaps it was strange to talk to a kitten, but when you dealt with aliens for a living, you kept a minimum level of professional scepticism. You never knew when a kitten was not simply just a kitten.
He reached down and scooped it up with his hand. It was so small it easily fit into his palm as he set it on his chest where it mewled in a less panicked tone. 'And where did you come from?' It sniffed at his shirt buttons and then decided his chest was as good a place as any to curl up for a quick nap.
'Achoo!' came a secondary unexpected sound. It was followed by two more loud sneezes that were unmistakably Jack's. He had a way of making it sound like he wasn't just ejecting a small amount of dust but half his internal organs. So much for the peace and quiet. Even his feline companion took umbrage at the disturbance.
‘Ianto!’ he called out, clocking his lover from halfway across the hub. ‘There's a damn cat in the hub!’
Well, that would explain the sneezing, Ianto thought. Jack was ridiculously allergic to cats. ‘Perhaps more than one,’ he replied, protectively clutching the tiny furball as he sat up.
‘Ah ha!’ Jack cried, spotting it.
‘A little small for your sneezes,’ Ianto said. ‘I daresay this little chap is just one of a litter that's gotten lost from his mum.’ She couldn't be far away but the hub was big.
‘Well, you'd better find it and evict it, along with all its offspring, pronto.’ He sneezed loudly again. ‘We are not having a hub overrun with mangy cats.’
‘Not even this one?’ Ianto held him up next to his face. Jack was always giving him puppy dog eyes when he wanted Ianto to cave in, and the little guy was just so cute. ‘They say controlled exposure is a proven technique to reduce allergies.’
Jack scowled at the pair of them, eyes watering and nose beginning to run. ‘Not unless you want a job elsewhere. And a new boyfriend.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Well, it was worth a try.’ He tucked his feline adoptee in his arms. ‘C’mon you. Let's go find mum and then what's say we find you a nice home? I have a niece who would love you.’
