Anythingdrabble Challenge 53 - Odd reaction

[m_findlow]

Title: Odd reaction
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Tosh, Owen, Ianto
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 53 - Confuse at anythingdrabble
Summary: Tosh is worried about Owen's sudden strange behaviour.

Tosh barely heard Owen as he came up behind her, so intense was her concentration on the screen.

'What are you working on?' he asked, feeling slightly guilty as she jumped at the sound.

She pulled her glasses off and looked at him. 'Oh, nothing important,' she replied. 'What brings you here?'

She only saw him occasionally now that they were working in different facilities, albeit only separated by a single London street that divided applied sciences from medical research. She looked forward now to projects where their respective divisions came together, using technology with medical expertise to develop solutions.

Owen looked furtive as he kept his eyes fixed on her shoes, making her wish she'd worn nicer ones. 'Dyouwannagofordinnersometime?' he blurted out.

Tosh frowned. 'Sorry, I didn't catch that.'

Owen sucked in a deep breath. 'Would you like to go out for dinner? With me? Sometime.'

'Oh,' she said, taken aback. 'Sure.'

'Right. No, that's okay,' Owen said. 'Never mind. I've um, got a meeting I need to get to.' Owen was out through the glass and metal door before Tosh could say anything. She continued staring at it long after he'd left, before reaching for her phone.

'Hello,' came the chirpy greeting from her best friend and, she remembered, now her boss. Things had changed a lot in the time she'd been gone, but for the good. 'How's London treating you?'

'Good,' she replied. 'I miss Cardiff though. And you. Even Jack,' she added, laughing.

Ianto chuckled with her. 'So, to what do I owe the pleasure?'

Tosh paused a moment before speaking. 'Remember how you said we should be on the lookout for any strange behaviour?' She heard the nervous pause on the other end of the phone.

Ianto didn't like to think about it. Tosh and Owen's inexplicable and unexplainable return to life was more than he could have dreamed for, yet it came with a nagging vigilance that not all was as it seemed. He didn't want to lose either of them again. 'What is it?' he asked, dreading the answer.

'It's Owen. He... well, he asked me to dinner. And then when I said yes, he left as if I'd said no.'

'That's it?'

'I suppose so. You're not worried?'

'That he asked you out or that he was confused by you actually saying yes?' Ianto shook his head. Only Owen could bugger up something so simple. 'Tosh, you have no idea how pleased I am to hear that's the strangest thing that's happened. I've been trying to convince him to man up and ask you out for months.'

Tosh nearly dropped the phone. 'You have? When were you going to tell me you've been trying to play matchmaker behind my back?'

'Right about now, I guess,' he replied.

Tosh sighed. 'I suppose I have to go find him and make sure there's no further confusion about my reply.'

'Good thinking. And don't panic if he buys flowers. I may have suggested that, too.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

*grins* Poor Owen! He was so sure Tosh would say no he didn't really listen to her reply. I'm sure Tosh will set him straight.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Yep. He was totally geared up for rejection and far too embarrassed to hang around whilst it was being dished out. Lucky Ianto is in on the plan or Tosh would be rightly confused, and lucky also that this isn't some terrible side effect of his resurrection. (I really need to write that story one day!)