Torchwood: Fanfic: Critical information

[m_findlow]

Title: Critical information
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 569 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Torchwood, Ianto, Sometimes the Tourist Office gets actual tourists, which is quite a shock to everyone" at fic_promptly
Summary: No one expected the tourist office to be a success

When Ianto suggested that they set up their secret entrance to the hub as a tourist office they all laughed at him. After all, what was the point? They didn't want to be inviting people down to the entrance of their super secret organisation, at which point he reminded them that their secret organisation was not so secret.

'You have a big ostentatious car with the word "Torchwood" emblazoned on it in big yellow letters, a Captain who floats about in World War Two getup, and whenever you ask someone about Torchwood, they always point toward the bay.

Ianto was of the view that if you really wanted to hide something, then hide it in plain sight. If people happened to wander down to the quay and saw a plain little doorway that seemed to go nowhere, they were going to start getting suspicious. If they thought it was just some poxy little tourist bureau, they wouldn't pay it any mind.

And it worked for the large part. Tourism in Wales had been slow, despite the large spend on redeveloping the bay. That or they'd simply run out of money to promote it once it was done. There was rumor as well of a possible global economic downturn, so everyone was against spending money where it wasn't absolutely needed.

Despite that, tourists still trickled in through the city. They liked the idea of castles, and the romanticism of dragons and knights. There was also a reasonable showing for major sporting events which kept the local economy flush.

Ianto delighted in setting up the tiny space, filling it with posters and stands full of brochures, maps and discount coupons for local attractions. There was a bench covered in souvenir type trinkets, snow globes with dragons, spoons, fridge magnets, keyrings, and postcards.

The others though it was a colossal waste of time, but every so often, someone would come though the door; the tiny bell overhead tinkling. Tourists. Actual real life tourists! How they ever found the place was a mystery to the team. Had Ianto gone so far as to list them with the tourism board as a genuine outlet? Were there posters at the airport and train station giving out their address? 'Nope,' he replied, 'although, I did make sure we were properly certified by Tourism Wales.'

Most tourists were lost, some had been given directions by local shopkeepers, but all who arrived left the place happy and well informed, appreciative of the knowledgeable Welshman who ran the place, highlighting routes on maps, suggesting attractions they might like to see, and where to get the best coffee in town. The place was even turning a profit from the sale of souvenirs, and had come runner up for best tourist information branch in Wales, which wasn't bad considering the winning office had over three hundred thousand tourists coming in through its doors each year. They were lucky to get three hundred, and in Owen's opinion, that was three hundred too many.

Jack didn't mind though. If it kept people from sniffing about, looking for Torchwood, then so much the better. He also suspected it made Ianto happy, so he wasn't about to rain on his parade. Anything that made Ianto happy, made Jack happy. Now all he had to do was figure out how to wrangle one of those cute little dragon snow globes without having to pay for it.

Comments

[bk_forever]

I'm sure if Jack asked Ianto nicely he'd get one in his Christmas stocking ;)

This is lovely, Ianto is such an enterprising young man it's no surprise the little tourist office does so well, I'm sure their award is well deserved!