Ficlet: Growing Weather
Title: Growing Weather
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Word Count: 897
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: There are always things that need doing, even on a rare day off.
Written For: Prompt ‘Any, Any, how did the grass grow that fast?’ at spring_renewal.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
It had been almost two in the morning by the time Jack had followed Ianto through the front door of the modest end-of-terrace house they were now sharing. They hadn’t bothered with turning on any lights, pausing in the hallway only long enough to take their coats and shoes off before trudging wearily up the stairs to their bedroom, stripping down to their underwear, and falling into bed, too exhausted to even brush their teeth. They were both asleep almost before their heads touched the pillows.
Every member of the Torchwood Three team was used to the irregular hours and long working days that went with the job. It wasn’t unusual for them to eat on the run and grab power naps whenever the opportunity arose, fuelling themselves with copious amounts of coffee when they couldn’t spare the time to rest. After all, they could hardly ask the invading aliens or rampaging Weevils to wait patiently for a few hours while they caught up on their beauty sleep.
When Ianto awoke somewhere around eleven, it took him several minutes to remember where he was. Between the Rift, one invasion, seventeen Weevils, a band of intergalactic slave traders, three lost alien tourists, a Hoix, two joyriding Blowfish, a shapeshifter, and the end of the world, almost, he could scarcely remember the last time he’d slept in his own bed. He thought he could be excused for not recognising it right away.
It didn’t particularly surprise him that Jack was no longer in bed beside him; his immortal lover needed less sleep than the average twenty-first century human and would often slip quietly out of bed to avoid disturbing him, which Ianto appreciated. On such mornings, if they weren’t in a rush to get to work, Ianto had grown accustomed to Jack bringing him breakfast in bed, but today there were no delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen. Rolling onto his back, he immediately saw why; Jack was standing at the window, staring out across the back garden.
Ianto stretched and yawned, feeling refreshed by the first uninterrupted sleep he’d enjoyed in weeks. “Morning, Jack. Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” Jack glanced back over his shoulder, frowning. “I think something weird’s going on with the lawn.”
“Weird in what way?” Throwing the covers back, Ianto slid off the bed and padded over to join Jack at the window.
“Look at it! How did the grass grow so fast? Did we miss a Rift alert? Maybe there’s something down there speeding up plant growth. We have to find it and stop it before the grass takes over. It might be alien grass, an invasion starting in our own backyard!” Jack could be a bit of a drama queen.
“Calm down; it’s just regular grass.”
“How can you be sure? It’s so tall I can barely see the top of my gnome!” A worried look crossed Jack’s face. “You don’t think my gnome could be responsible, do you?”
“Highly unlikely. Stone gnomes don’t have any magical powers that I’m aware of. Grass grows fast, and we’ve had a lot of rain lately.”
“But I cut it just the other day!”
Ianto snorted. “The other day was over a month ago, before the Weevils, Hoix, Blowfish, slave traders, confused tourists, attempted invasion, and the end of the world. Which we prevented. Again.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. The world’s still here, so obviously it didn’t end.”
“No, I meant about the lawn.”
“Yes, Jack, I’m sure. In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve been a bit busy at work lately. I’ve only been back here twice in the last three and a half weeks, and then only long enough to grab a few hours’ sleep, and to clear the fridge out before a new lifeform could evolve in there. Which reminds me, I’ll have to go shopping today; there’s hardly anything edible left in the cupboards. It’s a good thing we both take our coffee black.”
Jack threw one last look at the overgrown lawn and sighed. “Okay, you can do the shopping while I rescue Dennis and try to get the lawn under control.”
“Dennis?”
“My gnome.”
“Ah. Of course.” Ianto had no particular fondness for gnomes, but Jack had wanted one so he’d agreed, provided it was a stone one and not some tasteless plastic monstrosity. There were limits to what he’d put up with, even for Jack.
“Fine, just remember to use the circuit breaker, and try not to run over the cable.”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you? I only did it once!” Jack pouted at his lover.
“Let’s keep it that way.”
“Y’know, this was supposed to be a relaxing day off, and now we’re going to be spending it doing chores.”
Ianto shrugged. “That’s life. Go shower while I make coffee and put a load of laundry on. I’ll swing by the Hub and feed the inmates before I do the shopping.”
“What about breakfast?”
“You’ll have to make do with whatever you can find in the cupboards until I get back.”
“Living in the Hub was so much simpler,” Jack lamented. “No lawn to cut, and I could go to the café across the Plas for breakfast.”
Ianto paused at the bedroom door. “Regretting moving in with me?”
Jack shook his head. “Not for a second. It may mean more work, but it’s worth it.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Word Count: 897
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: There are always things that need doing, even on a rare day off.
Written For: Prompt ‘Any, Any, how did the grass grow that fast?’ at spring_renewal.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
It had been almost two in the morning by the time Jack had followed Ianto through the front door of the modest end-of-terrace house they were now sharing. They hadn’t bothered with turning on any lights, pausing in the hallway only long enough to take their coats and shoes off before trudging wearily up the stairs to their bedroom, stripping down to their underwear, and falling into bed, too exhausted to even brush their teeth. They were both asleep almost before their heads touched the pillows.
Every member of the Torchwood Three team was used to the irregular hours and long working days that went with the job. It wasn’t unusual for them to eat on the run and grab power naps whenever the opportunity arose, fuelling themselves with copious amounts of coffee when they couldn’t spare the time to rest. After all, they could hardly ask the invading aliens or rampaging Weevils to wait patiently for a few hours while they caught up on their beauty sleep.
When Ianto awoke somewhere around eleven, it took him several minutes to remember where he was. Between the Rift, one invasion, seventeen Weevils, a band of intergalactic slave traders, three lost alien tourists, a Hoix, two joyriding Blowfish, a shapeshifter, and the end of the world, almost, he could scarcely remember the last time he’d slept in his own bed. He thought he could be excused for not recognising it right away.
It didn’t particularly surprise him that Jack was no longer in bed beside him; his immortal lover needed less sleep than the average twenty-first century human and would often slip quietly out of bed to avoid disturbing him, which Ianto appreciated. On such mornings, if they weren’t in a rush to get to work, Ianto had grown accustomed to Jack bringing him breakfast in bed, but today there were no delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen. Rolling onto his back, he immediately saw why; Jack was standing at the window, staring out across the back garden.
Ianto stretched and yawned, feeling refreshed by the first uninterrupted sleep he’d enjoyed in weeks. “Morning, Jack. Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” Jack glanced back over his shoulder, frowning. “I think something weird’s going on with the lawn.”
“Weird in what way?” Throwing the covers back, Ianto slid off the bed and padded over to join Jack at the window.
“Look at it! How did the grass grow so fast? Did we miss a Rift alert? Maybe there’s something down there speeding up plant growth. We have to find it and stop it before the grass takes over. It might be alien grass, an invasion starting in our own backyard!” Jack could be a bit of a drama queen.
“Calm down; it’s just regular grass.”
“How can you be sure? It’s so tall I can barely see the top of my gnome!” A worried look crossed Jack’s face. “You don’t think my gnome could be responsible, do you?”
“Highly unlikely. Stone gnomes don’t have any magical powers that I’m aware of. Grass grows fast, and we’ve had a lot of rain lately.”
“But I cut it just the other day!”
Ianto snorted. “The other day was over a month ago, before the Weevils, Hoix, Blowfish, slave traders, confused tourists, attempted invasion, and the end of the world. Which we prevented. Again.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. The world’s still here, so obviously it didn’t end.”
“No, I meant about the lawn.”
“Yes, Jack, I’m sure. In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve been a bit busy at work lately. I’ve only been back here twice in the last three and a half weeks, and then only long enough to grab a few hours’ sleep, and to clear the fridge out before a new lifeform could evolve in there. Which reminds me, I’ll have to go shopping today; there’s hardly anything edible left in the cupboards. It’s a good thing we both take our coffee black.”
Jack threw one last look at the overgrown lawn and sighed. “Okay, you can do the shopping while I rescue Dennis and try to get the lawn under control.”
“Dennis?”
“My gnome.”
“Ah. Of course.” Ianto had no particular fondness for gnomes, but Jack had wanted one so he’d agreed, provided it was a stone one and not some tasteless plastic monstrosity. There were limits to what he’d put up with, even for Jack.
“Fine, just remember to use the circuit breaker, and try not to run over the cable.”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you? I only did it once!” Jack pouted at his lover.
“Let’s keep it that way.”
“Y’know, this was supposed to be a relaxing day off, and now we’re going to be spending it doing chores.”
Ianto shrugged. “That’s life. Go shower while I make coffee and put a load of laundry on. I’ll swing by the Hub and feed the inmates before I do the shopping.”
“What about breakfast?”
“You’ll have to make do with whatever you can find in the cupboards until I get back.”
“Living in the Hub was so much simpler,” Jack lamented. “No lawn to cut, and I could go to the café across the Plas for breakfast.”
Ianto paused at the bedroom door. “Regretting moving in with me?”
Jack shook his head. “Not for a second. It may mean more work, but it’s worth it.”
The End