m_findlow

Title: Rain, rain, go away
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, OC
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 501 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316's prompt "Any, any, sitting by the window, watching the rain gently fall" at fic_promptly
Summary: Not everyone loves rainy days.

Rainy days. Ianto should be used to them by now. It had a habit of raining more days than not, but for the most part you just learned to get on with your day. If you gave up on account of a light sprinkling, you'd never get anything done. It was simply a case of pulling up your collar, ducking your head and just carrying on. What was more British than that?

Not today, though. Cardiff had decided to show its citizens it meant business. Earlier it had been a torrential downpour that rendered umbrellas ineffective, and even brought motorists to a crawl, forcing their bald tyres through inches of water, sluicing down the road. Trains were canceled or heavily delayed, and tourism had ground to a halt. Radio Wales had suggested on their weather report that those who didn't have to go out today, shouldn't. Sound advice, he thought as it grew darker still outside, clouds transitioning from pale grey through to deep gunmetal. The forecast was for more of the same in the coming days. It was simply a case of hunkering down and riding it out.

At least the rain had eased a bit. It was persistent, but the droplets had reduced in size and velocity. Now there were just hitting the leaves on the trees and gently dripping down to earth. Watching them fall was quite hypnotic, aided by the sound of the drip, drip, drip as the water escaped the guttering, trickling along the downpipe. He could sit here for hours, watching mother nature at work, knowing he was warm and dry inside. This was surely coexistence as it had been designed.

There were other benefits as well. Weevils didn't like the rain, so they wouldn't be taking to the streets to cause trouble. That at least meant they wouldn't need to take to the streets either. The sewers would of course be flooding with all the extra water, but somehow the weevils always found a way to survive it. He almost pitied them. He certainly wouldn't like it if his home was suddenly inundated with a torrent of water. There must be places in the network where the flow wasn't so high, otherwise they'd be trying to take refuge above ground. He prayed that was the case. A week of continuous rain might prove more than they could cope with.

He eased back against the cushion, glad he'd insisted on the French windows, so that he could sit here and just watch the world go by outside. This was what they were made for. Nothing else to do but to enjoy the beauty of nature.

The peace was interrupted only by the tiny whine from the warm body cuddled up next to him. He reached down and gently scratched the floppy black ears, easing his anxiety until the whining faded away.

'I know, Buddy,' he said, stroking his fur. 'You'd rather be outside running around.' Not everyone was enjoying being stuck inside watching the rain.