Torchwood: Fanfic: Fishy business

[m_findlow]

Title: Fishy business
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Rhys
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 826 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, scales would take some getting used to" at fic_promptly
Summary: There's something fishy going going on and the boys are right in the thick of it.

'You know, on some planets, this would be considered a very sexy look,' Jack said, before being hit over the head by a fin. 'Ow!'

'Just shut it, will you?' Rhys complained. 'This is all your fault!'

'You know that's a redundant sentence around here, don't you?' Ianto replied. 'It's almost always Jack's fault.'

'Hey, when did you two join forces to gang up on me?' he moped.

'Sometime between meeting you and our current predicament.'

How they'd all ended up transformed into something Jack called an Elphuseria, which was part fish, part axolotl, was still a mystery. They still had all their appendages, but they were now long and pointed at the ends, and every part of their bodies were covered in bright coloured scales. Rhys was lime green, Ianto a lurid shade of violet and Jack was embarrassingly bright pink. Each of them was also sporting a rather long tail and a dorsal fin.

'God,' Rhys moaned. 'Gwen's going to kill me. No, hang on, not me. You,' he said, pointing a long scaly fin at the pair of them.

'I'm trying to call her,' Ianto said, 'but my phone's touch screen is heat sensitive and these new fin things don't register.'

'It's fine,' Jack said. 'I took another look at the device. This transformation is totally temporary.'

'Oh, well, that's good,' Ianto said, dropping his phone for the third time, unable to keep a grip on it. 'How long?'

'Er... About three weeks?'

'Three weeks!' Rhys exclaimed. 'That's not temporary!'

'It's not permanent,' Jack replied. 'Doesn't that make it temporary?'

'If Gwen divorces me because of this...' he warned.

'Relax, Rhys. She's seen worse, believe me.'

'Worse than her husband turned into an alien... lizard... fish... thing?'

'It's one for the scrapbook,' Ianto admitted, pausing to admire his long tail. 'You'll both laugh about it years from now.'

'I doubt it,' Rhys sulked.

'Gosh, I feel so parched,' Ianto said. 'I know it's disgusting down there,' he said, staring at the rift pool, 'but the water looks so tempting.'

'It's their natural habitat,' Jack said. 'It does look good. Must be instincts kicking in.'

'A shame it's full of filthy water,' Ianto replied.

'We could always open the release duct and swim out through that. We'd end up right in the bay. Best place to be if we're stuck like this for a while.'

'Are they saltwater or freshwater?' The last thing he wanted was to get that part wrong.

'Oh, definitely saltwater.'

Ianto looked down at his long purple fins. Scales were definitely going to take some getting used to, as was not having fingers and toes, or arms and legs for that matter, but perhaps it would all be a lot less awkward in water. Anything had to be better than being flopped on the floor like he currently was, just like... well... like a fish out of water.

'I just wish we could leave Gwen a note,' he said. 'Explain what we think happened and that it's all going to be okay.'

'Oh, she'll find us gone and check the CCTV. She can meet us outside by the quay when she figures it out.'

Jack was already crawling across the hub, dragging himself along with his long fins, headed for the water tower. He slipped a fin down into the murky water and moved it around, searching for the release valve button.

'Ah, got it!' he said, before sliding all the way into the water and disappearing down the wide pipe.

'I am not going down there,' Rhys said. 'No way.'

Ianto felt torn. He didn't want to leave Rhys behind, but as he saw the fresh wave of saltwater burbling up through the pipe and filling the small pool, instinct took over.

'I'm going,' he said. He slid down into the water and felt so much better for it. 'Stay if you like, but at least sit in the pool so you don't dry out.' He was pretty sure that once he got in, Rhys would soon follow. He dived under the waterline and into the pipe before finally emerging out the other side a few minutes later.

'What took you?' Jack asked, wrapping his long tail around Ianto. He was walking underwater. That was pretty cool.

'Trying to convince Rhys not to stay there on his own.' Being in the water really did feel so much nicer than lying uselessly around the hub. It didn't even feel cold, though he knew it should have.

'He'll figure it out eventually. Come on, I found a nice little sheltered spot on the other side of the bay where we can stay. Think of it as a forced holiday.' Jack took off, all fins and tail gliding through the water like he'd been born with them.

Ianto followed after him. A forced holiday. That didn't sound so bad. He'd always wanted to stay some place with a water view.

Comments

[bk_forever]

I'm sure they'll enjoy themselves, swimming, fishing for dinner... Rhys might want to set up home a little distance from the other two though ;)