Torchwood: Fanfic: The little things

[m_findlow]

Title: The little things
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 626 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, on some planets, green means stop" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto is finding very little difference between earth and the rest of the universe

Ianto stood at the corner of the intersection and looked up, marveling at the enormous skyscrapers that loomed overhead, gleaming in metallic colours of every hue. On their sides flashed advertising for every kind of product imaginable, and the only thing that stopped him from reading them in detail were the mass of flying vehicles that soared and zipped past them, hurrying on to their respective destinations. The streets below where he stood were packed with clusters of people, similarly going about their day, or maybe just sightseeing as they were. It reminded him of London, or perhaps New York, caught up in the buzz of being pressed in by so many people.

This whole travelling the universe thing wasn't nearly so hard as he'd imagined it. He'd expected that everything would be completely alien to him, and that he'd need Jack to guide him through every second of the day. He'd seen enough bizarre stuff working at Torchwood to convince himself that the universe was completely at odds with anything he'd ever experienced.

Instead, most of what he'd seen so far was totally within the realms of normal. Aliens weren't so different to people living on Earth. They ate and they slept, they worked, produced and sold goods - in fact, capitalism was rife everywhere they went - they had families, observed religions, upheld laws and justice, educated their children, made music and art, and they played, lived, laughed and loved, just like back home.

Maybe someone back home should have revealed the existence of aliens to the general population, he thought. Maybe if they saw what was out here, the way he was seeing it, then they'd put aside all their petty differences and just celebrate the singularly remarkable miracle that was life.

Even language was proving less of a barrier than he'd anticipated. Jack had given him the basics in Galactic Standard and his own penchant for languages had filled in the blanks. Being surrounded by it constantly had helped too. There was really no substitute for learning a language than by simply immersing yourself in it every day. Most places knew Standard, and a lot he was surprised to find knew English as well.

'Humans have been colonising the universe for thousands of years between your timeline and mine,' Jack said. 'Is it any wonder?' No, he supposed it wasn't.

He spied the sleek bridge Jack had pointed out earlier, when they'd viewed it from atop one of the city's tallest towers. It was only about a mile away now. That was their destination. A short walk and they'd be there in time for lunch.

At the intersection, he stepped out onto the road, and a hand grabbed his own and pulled him back sharply, almost falling back into the person in question. Before he could gather his thoughts, a dozen vehicles zoomed by the spot where he'd just been standing.

'Ianto!' Jack cried, spinning him around in his arms. 'What on Earth did you think you were doing? You could've gotten yourself killed.'

He was confused. They'd arrived at the intersection just in time for the light to turn green, permitting them to cross.

'The light was green,' he said.

'Green means stop. Did I not mention that?'

No, he hadn't, but he was still a bit too stunned to be mad at Jack for the oversight. He should have twigged that no one else had made a move out onto the road, but he'd been so distracted by everything else. Perhaps things out in the universe weren't so different to home, but that was at a very high level. If he was going to live long enough to enjoy it, he was going to have to stop making assumptions and keep his wits about him.