Ficlet: Once In A Lifetime
Title: Once In A Lifetime
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto wants to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience to the full.
Word Count: 509
Written For: My own prompt ‘Any, any, Even the birds have fallen silent,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Ianto stands as still as he possibly can, scarcely daring to breathe. It feels as though it would somehow be sacrilege for him to make even the smallest sound and disturb the unnatural stillness that surrounds him. The whole world has gone so quiet, a breathless hush spreading over everything as if all of nature is being muffled by a gigantic soft, fuzzy blanket. Even the birds have fallen silent, fooled into believing it’s nightfall even though in reality that’s still hours away.
It’s sort of eerie yet thrilling at the same time; this isn’t an everyday occurrence, more of a once in a lifetime experience for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and Ianto is drinking it all in greedily, knowing he may never get another chance.
As the twilight deepens to dusk a light breeze begins to rise; he can feel it like ghostly fingers stirring the hairs on the back of his neck. Soon it will be completely dark, and yet it’s not anywhere close to evening; it’s the middle of the day and the moon is gradually creeping across the face of the sun, blocking out its light while casting a shadow over the earth, turning broad daylight to deepest night. It’s no wonder the birds are confused.
A total solar eclipse! Ianto had been disappointed that it wasn’t going to be visible in Cardiff, but Jack had surprised him a few days ago, telling him they were taking a brief trip to mainland Europe in order to see it. So here they are, and Ianto definitely isn’t disappointed; it’s proving to be every bit as spectacular as he’d been hoping.
As the sun is at last blotted out entirely and the unnatural hush envelops everything, Ianto looks up through the special lenses Jack gave him to protect his eyes, seeing the stars far brighter than he’s ever seen them before, and the thin corona of sunlight around the edge of the moon. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and he silently prays that no matter how old he gets, he’ll never lose the sense of awe and wonder he feels right now at witnessing such an amazing sight.
He almost jumps at the sensation of warm breath on his cheek, having forgotten he’s not alone.
“If you think this is incredible, just wait until we get out there among the stars,” Jack whispers in his ear. “Then you’ll see things that’ll really knock your socks off!”
“Better than a solar eclipse?” he whispers back.
“Way better. You have no idea.”
It’s impossible for Ianto to imagine anything that could beat this, but he’s not exactly in a position to judge having never been anywhere other than earth. He can hardly wait to get out there and see for himself.
Right at this moment though, he intends to enjoy his first ever total solar eclipse to the full, drinking it in with all of his senses, so that he’ll always remember; he doesn’t want to miss a single second of it.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto wants to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience to the full.
Word Count: 509
Written For: My own prompt ‘Any, any, Even the birds have fallen silent,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Ianto stands as still as he possibly can, scarcely daring to breathe. It feels as though it would somehow be sacrilege for him to make even the smallest sound and disturb the unnatural stillness that surrounds him. The whole world has gone so quiet, a breathless hush spreading over everything as if all of nature is being muffled by a gigantic soft, fuzzy blanket. Even the birds have fallen silent, fooled into believing it’s nightfall even though in reality that’s still hours away.
It’s sort of eerie yet thrilling at the same time; this isn’t an everyday occurrence, more of a once in a lifetime experience for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and Ianto is drinking it all in greedily, knowing he may never get another chance.
As the twilight deepens to dusk a light breeze begins to rise; he can feel it like ghostly fingers stirring the hairs on the back of his neck. Soon it will be completely dark, and yet it’s not anywhere close to evening; it’s the middle of the day and the moon is gradually creeping across the face of the sun, blocking out its light while casting a shadow over the earth, turning broad daylight to deepest night. It’s no wonder the birds are confused.
A total solar eclipse! Ianto had been disappointed that it wasn’t going to be visible in Cardiff, but Jack had surprised him a few days ago, telling him they were taking a brief trip to mainland Europe in order to see it. So here they are, and Ianto definitely isn’t disappointed; it’s proving to be every bit as spectacular as he’d been hoping.
As the sun is at last blotted out entirely and the unnatural hush envelops everything, Ianto looks up through the special lenses Jack gave him to protect his eyes, seeing the stars far brighter than he’s ever seen them before, and the thin corona of sunlight around the edge of the moon. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and he silently prays that no matter how old he gets, he’ll never lose the sense of awe and wonder he feels right now at witnessing such an amazing sight.
He almost jumps at the sensation of warm breath on his cheek, having forgotten he’s not alone.
“If you think this is incredible, just wait until we get out there among the stars,” Jack whispers in his ear. “Then you’ll see things that’ll really knock your socks off!”
“Better than a solar eclipse?” he whispers back.
“Way better. You have no idea.”
It’s impossible for Ianto to imagine anything that could beat this, but he’s not exactly in a position to judge having never been anywhere other than earth. He can hardly wait to get out there and see for himself.
Right at this moment though, he intends to enjoy his first ever total solar eclipse to the full, drinking it in with all of his senses, so that he’ll always remember; he doesn’t want to miss a single second of it.
The End