Ficlet: Magnetism
Title: Magnetism
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Alien tech is having a very unfortunate effect on Jack’s personal magnetism.
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None necessary.
Written For: Prompt 123: Magnet at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
When it comes to personal magnetism, Jack has it in spades. Ianto should know; he’s been drawn to Torchwood Three’s captain since they met, even though at the time he’d told himself he was only stalking the man for Lisa’s sake, flirting with him to distract him from her presence in his base. He can admit now that he was lying to himself back then, but it hardly matters now they’re together.
Ianto isn’t the only one drawn to Jack; his natural charisma, not to mention those enticing pheromones, are close to irresistible to most people, whether human or alien, male as well as female, and every other gender in existence. Over time, Ianto’s grown used to that and it no longer bothers him. Why should it? Some people might think Jack incapable of monogamy simply because of the way he acts, but they don’t know him the way Ianto does. His flirting is simply one of the ways in which he communicates, and it’s a useful tool for getting people to open up to him about what they’ve seen or what they know. He charms information out of them almost effortlessly; often without them even being aware he’s doing it.
This, however, is different.
“I’ve heard of people ‘aving a magnetic personality, but this is ridiculous!”
At least Owen seems to find the situation amusing, although Ianto has a feeling he won’t when he realises his credit cards and phone no longer work. Jack’s unanticipated magnetism is playing havoc with everything electronic, so Ianto daren’t take him down into the Hub in case he accidentally wipes everything off their computer systems into the bargain. Exactly how he’s been affected is anybody’s guess, but attempting to find out by scanning him would most likely only wreck the scanner. Their one hope is that Tosh can somehow turn off or disable the innocuous bit of tech responsible for Jack’s condition.
Needless to say, Jack isn’t particularly happy. His VM will probably be okay thanks to its futuristic shielding, but Jack himself is in the wars since metallic objects now find him irresistible. Getting him back to the Hub had been a nightmare, although thankfully they’d only been a couple of streets away when the hyper-magnetism kicked in, sticking Jack firmly to a parked car. Prising him off without damaging the paintwork had been tricky, and Ianto had to keep him a safe distance from vehicles for the rest of journey, but that hadn’t stopped smaller items from making his acquaintance. He’s accumulated quite a bit of loose change, paperclips, and bottle caps, but the nails and screws are the worst. Some arrived point first. Ianto can only imagine how that feels.
“Tosh!” Jack grinds out between clenched teeth as Ianto valiantly tries to remove the accumulated metallic detritus.
“I’m working as fast as I can.” It doesn’t help that her tools are as attracted to Jack as everything else.
Ianto can only hope Tosh fixes the problem before anything worse happens.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Alien tech is having a very unfortunate effect on Jack’s personal magnetism.
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None necessary.
Written For: Prompt 123: Magnet at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
When it comes to personal magnetism, Jack has it in spades. Ianto should know; he’s been drawn to Torchwood Three’s captain since they met, even though at the time he’d told himself he was only stalking the man for Lisa’s sake, flirting with him to distract him from her presence in his base. He can admit now that he was lying to himself back then, but it hardly matters now they’re together.
Ianto isn’t the only one drawn to Jack; his natural charisma, not to mention those enticing pheromones, are close to irresistible to most people, whether human or alien, male as well as female, and every other gender in existence. Over time, Ianto’s grown used to that and it no longer bothers him. Why should it? Some people might think Jack incapable of monogamy simply because of the way he acts, but they don’t know him the way Ianto does. His flirting is simply one of the ways in which he communicates, and it’s a useful tool for getting people to open up to him about what they’ve seen or what they know. He charms information out of them almost effortlessly; often without them even being aware he’s doing it.
This, however, is different.
“I’ve heard of people ‘aving a magnetic personality, but this is ridiculous!”
At least Owen seems to find the situation amusing, although Ianto has a feeling he won’t when he realises his credit cards and phone no longer work. Jack’s unanticipated magnetism is playing havoc with everything electronic, so Ianto daren’t take him down into the Hub in case he accidentally wipes everything off their computer systems into the bargain. Exactly how he’s been affected is anybody’s guess, but attempting to find out by scanning him would most likely only wreck the scanner. Their one hope is that Tosh can somehow turn off or disable the innocuous bit of tech responsible for Jack’s condition.
Needless to say, Jack isn’t particularly happy. His VM will probably be okay thanks to its futuristic shielding, but Jack himself is in the wars since metallic objects now find him irresistible. Getting him back to the Hub had been a nightmare, although thankfully they’d only been a couple of streets away when the hyper-magnetism kicked in, sticking Jack firmly to a parked car. Prising him off without damaging the paintwork had been tricky, and Ianto had to keep him a safe distance from vehicles for the rest of journey, but that hadn’t stopped smaller items from making his acquaintance. He’s accumulated quite a bit of loose change, paperclips, and bottle caps, but the nails and screws are the worst. Some arrived point first. Ianto can only imagine how that feels.
“Tosh!” Jack grinds out between clenched teeth as Ianto valiantly tries to remove the accumulated metallic detritus.
“I’m working as fast as I can.” It doesn’t help that her tools are as attracted to Jack as everything else.
Ianto can only hope Tosh fixes the problem before anything worse happens.
The End