Torchwood: Fanfic: Stormy weather

[m_findlow]

Title: Stormy weather
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,133 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Torchwood, Jack/Ianto, look what followed me home" at fic_promptly
Summary: The forecast is cloudy with a chance of rain

There were several words you could use to describe it. In Ianto's opinion, cute was not one of them.

He'd still not fathomed just how it had happened in the first place. One minute they'd been at the scene of a rift rubbish pickup, and the next he had a tiny grey cloud hovering over his head.

The day outside had been generally rainy and dreary, as he stood there parked under his umbrella, spare hand tucked deep into the warm pocket of his coat, however that was no real reason for part of the weather to decide it had taken a liking to him and was intent on following him home.

At first Jack thought it was cute, this tiny little puff ball hovering just a foot or two over his head, and following him each time he tried to side step it.

'Aw, it likes you!'

As they hopped into the SUV with their collected rift item, a very unexciting 1980's salad spinner and matching salad tongs, the small cumulus sat outside his passenger side window. If it had had eyes, you would have said it was looking forlornly at them, now huddled in the nice, dry warmth of the SUV.

When finally they reached the hub, Ianto stepped out of the car to discover his new number one fan, waiting for him, and resuming its place overhead.

'It must have followed us,' Jack observed.

'Clouds don't follow people, or cars for that matter.'

Despite that, it was clear that this little cloud had decided it was going wherever Ianto was.

To say he got a few odd looks walking into the hub with a wad of grey candy floss levitating over his head was an understatement. Naturally both the girls though it was adorable, whilst Owen spent the afternoon devising weather based jokes that he could irritate the Welshman with. Even after being served decaf, Owen continued his tirade. In his mind, it was well worth it.

'Quit being so cirrus. Don't rain on my parade. Two's company, three's a cloud.'

Owen would pay for it later.

Ianto sighed and resigned himself to his new companion. That was until his new friend decided to treat him to his first shower. It caught him by surprise to suddenly be rained on, his head and shoulders wet within seconds.

Worse still, the cloud, seemingly disappointed that Ianto didn't appreciate its gifts, continued to rain down, only more heavily, as if displeased with this turn of events.

The simple solution would have been to prop up an umbrella. It kept Ianto dry, but now he had a ring of water gathering around him as it dripped off the skin of his umbrella and onto the nearby floor. Further annoyed by this new development, and the additional cleaning it was necessitating, didn't serve to improve the cloud's disposition, nor Ianto's.

'Tosh, what analysis have you been able to do on this thing?' he asked, hoping she'd divined a reason why the cloud had developed a mind of its own.

'Nothing yet I'm afraid. But, can I ask a favour?'

'Sure.'

'Could you maybe stand a bit further away? I just don't want the water getting into the computer systems.'

Ianto sighed.

He grumpily pottered about the hub as little as possible, knowing that he was only causing himself more work. Besides which, it was impossible to mop and hold an umbrella at the same time, and no one else was volunteering for cleaning duty. In the end Jack had brought him a kiddie pool for him to sit his chair in, and tied the umbrella to the back of the chair, so that Ianto could sit under the umbrella with two hands free.

He looked a sad sight, sitting there hunched under the large canopy of the golf umbrella, sat on his chair, trying to read reports and fumble with the laptop perched precariously on his lap, careful not to drop it into the water that was pooling around him and rising in the tiny tarpaulin pool.

'Why can't you just stop?' he yelled at it at one point, but he received a tiny rumble for his troubles, and a lightning bolt, which tore through the umbrella.

'Maybe you should try being nice to it,' Jack suggested.

'I am being nice! It's the one who decided to follow me home and rain on me!'

'Just try,' Jack pleaded.

'And how do I be nice to it?'

'I'm sure you'll figure something out.'

'Thanks,' he replied glumly.

Ianto wished he could go and stand outside and hope that the cloud might rain itself out, but it would have looked rather odd had he been stood out in public with a strange little cloud raining exclusively on him.

Despite the umbrella and the wading pool, he still felt permanently cold and damp.

'I'm going to get a cold thanks to you,' he grumbled. 'Are you going to rain on me while I'm sick in bed too?'

He suddenly wished he could crawl into bed and do just that. How on earth was he supposed to sleep with a rain cloud? The wading pool almost nearly full to overflowing as it was. What was he supposed to do then, bail himself out with a bucket?

Finally having had enough of miserable sodden clothes and even more sodden mood, he traipsed down to the showers, cloud in tow, disrobing and settling himself under the steamy hot stream of water. It was the best he'd felt all day, letting a grateful smile spread across his face.

The cloud watched him curiously. It settled overhead and started its own little shower again. The cold water mixed with the hot, so Ianto turned up the hot water again, determined not to let it get the better of him. He must have stood there for a good twenty minutes to half an hour. When he finally begrudgingly stepped out, he expected the cloud to follow, continuing its downpour. Instead it looked whiter than before, and it had stopped raining.

Ianto toweled himself off and watched the cloud warily. It was whiter still, and then just as quickly it poured forth a tiny rainbow.

'That's it?' he asked. 'You just wanted to rain on me and for me to enjoy it?'

The tiny rainbow glimmered happily.

Only Torchwood, Ianto thought.

He made his way back upstairs and up to the tourist office, his little white cloud happily floating above him. As he stepped out onto the quayside in the setting sunlight, he watched as the cloud floated away to rejoin his fellow clouds high above.

There was still no explanation for what had happened, but he decided that perhaps he wouldn't be quite so hasty to thrust open his umbrella at the first sign of precipitation in future.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Awww! Ianto and his little cloud of gloom! Rainclouds, it seems, have feelings too!

I'm glad Ianto eventually managed to please the cloud so it could go away happy, feeling like it had done its good deed for the day. The little rainbow of cloud hapiness was adorable!

Thanks for the fill!