Anythingdrabble Challenge 58 - In the name of research

[m_findlow]

Title: In the name of research
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Owen, Ianto
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 58 - Bug at anythingdrabble
Summary: Owen isn't too keen on Torchwood's insect collection.

'That is seriously the most disturbing thing in the entire hub,' Owen said, peering at the creature in the large glass tank. Part of him wanted to rap the glass, but the smarter part of him kept a good two feet away from it, just in case it decided it didn't want to stay caged anymore.

'More disturbing than that glow in a dark thing that looks like a brain submerged in jelly?' Ianto asked, quirking an eyebrow at their medic.

'Yeah, okay, fair point. But it's got to be a close second.'

The bug was bigger than a hotdog, though similarly shaped, six spindly legs protruding from each side of its body, its exoskeleton brown and rather impenetrable looking. If it had eyes, they were well camouflaged. He wasn't sure if he was staring at its head or its arse- both looked pretty much the same.

'This whole place creeps me out,' he added, casting a wary look around the room deep within the bowels of the hub. Everywhere he looked were tanks housing every kind of strange insect imaginable. 'Why do we even have it?'

'Where else are we going to keep them all?' Ianto said, as if that were obvious. 'I thought as a doctor and a scientist, you might take a professional interest.'

Owen pulled a face. 'No, thanks. You can keep your little menagerie. I still can't believe some whack job who used to work here put all of this together. But by all means, if Jack put you in charge of looking after them, don't let me get in the way.'

Ianto lifted the lid on one of the tanks and dropped in a few leaves. 'They're actually quite interesting.'

'If you say so,' Owen mumbled. The thing Ianto had left food for didn't even react to the offering. In fact, hardly anything in here moved around at all, except for some alien termite things he'd spotted, busily building new tunnels for themselves.

'I've been trying to do some research,' Ianto explained, 'since we're not sure how many of these are alien. Earth has five million species of its own, so it's going to take a while. These ones though are definitely Christmas bugs,' he said, opening up a tank and scooping up two in his hand. Their shells glistened metallic green and orange as they scurried around on his palm.

'And what use do they have?'

'None really,' he replied, settling them back in their tank. 'They just look nice.'

'Awesome. Good to know they'll be a big help in arming us against the twenty-first century.'

'Not everything can be cute and cuddly, Owen.'

Owen huffed. 'Why am I here?'

'Because that big ugly one has some nasty pincers I noticed this morning. If someone got bitten, it might not be pleasant. Your job is to make sure we have a treatment for it if we need one.'

'Or you could just not stick your hand in there. Prevention is better than cure.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

Owen, you are being shortsighted. What if another one comes through the Rift? Always best to be prepared with treatments if any of the bugs are venomous.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

And Ianto would do it except Owen is much more knowledgeable about poisons and their effects on the human body. It needs to be a team effort.