Double Drabble: Universal
Title: Universal
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 809: Grass at tw100.
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Most planets have their own versions of grass.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble. Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
Almost everywhere Ianto and Jack went, travelling around the universe, visiting alien planets, they found something similar to grass: a low-growing, groundcover plant that provided food for herds of grazing animals. The colour might vary from the traditional green of earth grass, bluish on some worlds, yellowish or brownish on others, even pink or purple, but it all served more or less the same purpose, as a food source for herbivores and a way of preventing soil erosion.
This, however, was a bit different. For one thing, it didn’t grow on the rocky ground, but on the tops of the trees, among the leaves and blossoms, the tiny rootlets burrowing into the rough bark. Long swathes of grass dangled from the branches, and the local herbivores browsed on whatever was within reach, some scrambling up into the trees to feed.
“Parasitic grass, that’s a new one.”
“Ingenious though, don’t you think? The ground’s too hard and dry for the seeds to germinate, so only the ones that lodge in cracks and crevices in the treetops have any chance of growing.”
“And what do the trees get out of playing host?”
Jack grinned. “Lots of fertiliser, delivered right where it’s needed.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 809: Grass at tw100.
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Most planets have their own versions of grass.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble. Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
Almost everywhere Ianto and Jack went, travelling around the universe, visiting alien planets, they found something similar to grass: a low-growing, groundcover plant that provided food for herds of grazing animals. The colour might vary from the traditional green of earth grass, bluish on some worlds, yellowish or brownish on others, even pink or purple, but it all served more or less the same purpose, as a food source for herbivores and a way of preventing soil erosion.
This, however, was a bit different. For one thing, it didn’t grow on the rocky ground, but on the tops of the trees, among the leaves and blossoms, the tiny rootlets burrowing into the rough bark. Long swathes of grass dangled from the branches, and the local herbivores browsed on whatever was within reach, some scrambling up into the trees to feed.
“Parasitic grass, that’s a new one.”
“Ingenious though, don’t you think? The ground’s too hard and dry for the seeds to germinate, so only the ones that lodge in cracks and crevices in the treetops have any chance of growing.”
“And what do the trees get out of playing host?”
Jack grinned. “Lots of fertiliser, delivered right where it’s needed.”
The End