Torchwood: Dear Gwen by Joanne
Title: Dear Gwen
Author: joanne_c
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing/characters: Emma Louise Cowell, Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness (Emma/OFC, OFC/OFC, Gwen/Rhys, Jack/Ianto and Jack Gwen implied)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Torchwood characters and situations are the property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies, not me.
Prompt: 795. Torchwood: Emma-Louise Cowell. Emma was shocked enough that Gwen and Rhys were living together. How is she going to react when she comes into contact with the LGBT community? What if she realizes that she might have something in common with them?
Summary: Emma writes to Gwen about her new life in London and the new people she is meeting.
"Dear Gwen,
You weren't wrong about London being a big city, and yes it has been an adjustment, but not so much as you might think. I'm starting to get to know a lot of really nice people at the shop. Not all girls, either, though I do wonder why a man would be working in a boutique, but Michael's better at choosing clothes than some of the girls are! You wouldn't think it to look at him, though. And the girls are really nice. There's Katya from Sweden and Sofia from somewhere I'm not sure of in South America, she has the nicest accent, and Margaret is the manageress, she's English and sort of reminds me of my mum. And there's another girl but she's on holiday, I haven't met her yet but her name is Sandra, I think she's from the North.
I'll write soon and let you know how I'm getting on, I know you will like to hear,
Love, Emma."
Gwen grinned as she read the letter, and handed it over to Jack. "Gay," he said, on reading the note about Michael.
"Yes, but unless Emma decides he'd be the perfect boyfriend, it doesn't matter and he might protect her a bit," Gwen answered. "Goodnight, Jack, I have to go home to Rhys."
"Night, Gwen," Jack answered, a slightly faraway look on his face.
The next letter arrived a few weeks later.
"Dear Gwen,
Aside from work, which is so much fun, and my new flat, which I am sharing with Katya and Sofia, I've learned a lot in the last few weeks. I've done some more reading about sex, because I was still a bit in shock, though I'm definitely still not the kind of girl that would sleep around. But I found something a bit odd... I was wondering, I don't really want to talk about it in a letter, I'm sure they'll end up in the Torchwood files and this is private. Can I ring you up, or can you ring me? The flat number is XXX-XXXX and we have an answering machine, which I think I can work,
Love, Emma."
As soon as Gwen got in and kissed Rhys, she explained the letter and said she wanted to ring Emma right away. Rhys nodded, he was going down the pub for a pint anyway so it would be a good time.
Gwen pressed the number in and hoped Emma would be home.
"Hello?" a Swedish accent.
"Hello, is that Katya? I'm Gwen Cooper, a friend of Emma's, could I talk to her please if she's there?"
Gwen could hear muffled noises and a moment later, Emma was speaking to her.
"Just a moment, Gwen, I'll take the phone into my room, I don't want to talk about this where someone might hear..."
Gwen waited patiently, listening to the sounds of a door closing and locking.
"There, now I can sit and chat for a while," Emma said, and Gwen could hear the smile in her voice. "How are you? How's Rhys and that handsome boss of yours?"
"I'm good, Rhys is a darling and Jack's Jack. Also I'm getting married soon and I would love you to come, if you can get the time off," Gwen added.
"Rhys proposed? Oh I'm so happy for you, Gwen!"
"He did and I said yes. You will come?"
"I will," Emma said. "I'd like to..." and she sounded hesitant.
"What's happened?" Gwen asked. "Why did you want me to ring?" Might as well get into it, she thought.
"Well, it's Katya and Sofia," Emma said. "I knew they shared the other bedroom, but I found something out..."
"You can tell me," Gwen said, having a suspicion but honestly there were a few other explanations and she'd better let Emma tell her which one.
"I got up a few nights ago - I wrote the letter the next day - and the door was open," Emma said, speaking softly but she was clearly talking right into the phone, so Gwen could hear. "I was going to close it, and I saw... oh, Gwen, I didn't..." she hesitated. "I saw them. Together. Naked. Like they were having sex only... I didn't know girls could..."
"What did you see them doing?" Gwen asked, because honestly, she knew Emma didn't know that much about sex. It was still possible for it to be a misunderstanding. Not likely, admittedly.
"I... I..." Emma sounded flustered. "Well, they were naked. And Katya's hand was on... Sofia's breast, and squeezing. And... and Sofia, had something... not her hand, and she was moving it between Katya's legs... I think they were doing... something. They were... moaning. That was when I left."
I'm sure they were moaning, Gwen thought. "Well, does it make a difference, Emma? They're not... not pressuring you to join them or anything?"
"Oh, no, not at all, they don't know I saw them. But I was reading one of those books, it said sometimes women are... together like that. They can have relationships and everything and sometimes go on to be with a man or... just be with a woman forever. I mean, I had heard that some confirmed bachelors were like that but not... not women..."
Gwen knew Ianto had told Emma (and the others) a little about that, mostly because of his relationship with Jack and the possibility of them being seen.
"Then what's the difficulty?" Gwen asked. "Or was this it?"
"Not... not quite," Emma said. "You see, Sandra came back to the shop that same morning after I saw them, the morning I sent the letter, from her holidays."
"And?"
"Have you ever seen someone walk into a room and wanted to know what it was like to kiss them? Or touch them?"
Jack, Gwen's mind whispered. "Yes."
"I thought that about Sandra," Emma whispered. "I don't know if... I don't know. Anything."
"Ah," Gwen nodded. "That's... difficult. Do you get on all right with Sandra?"
"She asked me to go out for lunch, and we talked. She doesn't have a boyfriend... but that doesn't mean a lot," Emma said. "I was looking at things on the computer to see..."
"Well some of that's rubbish," Gwen said. "But if you stay cautious it doesn't matter a lot I suppose."
"I mostly looked at the advice columns," Emma said. "There are a lot..."
"So could you maybe ask Sandra to go out as friends one night - don't say as friends of course - and maybe talk a little bit more?" Gwen suggested. "You could try that?"
"Take her to a club, you mean?" Emma said. "That might be something that could be all right, we could talk and if she goes off with a guy, well..."
"I don't know, but it won't hurt to try, will it?" Gwen smiled into the phone.
"No, I suppose not," Emma said. "Thanks, Gwen! I'll ring you again soon, or write! I'll ask her to go out tomorrow night, it's Friday."
"Bye, Emma," Gwen smiled and went to look in the fridge at the possibilities for dinner.
The next Tuesday there was another letter waiting for Gwen.
"Dear Gwen,
Took your advice and went out to a club with Sandra on Friday. Am still at her flat Sunday night. Will talk to you about the details but she felt like I did when we first saw each other. She's been showing me some very interesting things... and her tongue is amazing. I will let you use your imagination beyond that. Oh - and that invitation to your wedding, do you mind if I bring a guest? I think I might need to.
Love, Emma."
Author: joanne_c
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing/characters: Emma Louise Cowell, Gwen Cooper, Jack Harkness (Emma/OFC, OFC/OFC, Gwen/Rhys, Jack/Ianto and Jack Gwen implied)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Torchwood characters and situations are the property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies, not me.
Prompt: 795. Torchwood: Emma-Louise Cowell. Emma was shocked enough that Gwen and Rhys were living together. How is she going to react when she comes into contact with the LGBT community? What if she realizes that she might have something in common with them?
Summary: Emma writes to Gwen about her new life in London and the new people she is meeting.
"Dear Gwen,
You weren't wrong about London being a big city, and yes it has been an adjustment, but not so much as you might think. I'm starting to get to know a lot of really nice people at the shop. Not all girls, either, though I do wonder why a man would be working in a boutique, but Michael's better at choosing clothes than some of the girls are! You wouldn't think it to look at him, though. And the girls are really nice. There's Katya from Sweden and Sofia from somewhere I'm not sure of in South America, she has the nicest accent, and Margaret is the manageress, she's English and sort of reminds me of my mum. And there's another girl but she's on holiday, I haven't met her yet but her name is Sandra, I think she's from the North.
I'll write soon and let you know how I'm getting on, I know you will like to hear,
Love, Emma."
Gwen grinned as she read the letter, and handed it over to Jack. "Gay," he said, on reading the note about Michael.
"Yes, but unless Emma decides he'd be the perfect boyfriend, it doesn't matter and he might protect her a bit," Gwen answered. "Goodnight, Jack, I have to go home to Rhys."
"Night, Gwen," Jack answered, a slightly faraway look on his face.
The next letter arrived a few weeks later.
"Dear Gwen,
Aside from work, which is so much fun, and my new flat, which I am sharing with Katya and Sofia, I've learned a lot in the last few weeks. I've done some more reading about sex, because I was still a bit in shock, though I'm definitely still not the kind of girl that would sleep around. But I found something a bit odd... I was wondering, I don't really want to talk about it in a letter, I'm sure they'll end up in the Torchwood files and this is private. Can I ring you up, or can you ring me? The flat number is XXX-XXXX and we have an answering machine, which I think I can work,
Love, Emma."
As soon as Gwen got in and kissed Rhys, she explained the letter and said she wanted to ring Emma right away. Rhys nodded, he was going down the pub for a pint anyway so it would be a good time.
Gwen pressed the number in and hoped Emma would be home.
"Hello?" a Swedish accent.
"Hello, is that Katya? I'm Gwen Cooper, a friend of Emma's, could I talk to her please if she's there?"
Gwen could hear muffled noises and a moment later, Emma was speaking to her.
"Just a moment, Gwen, I'll take the phone into my room, I don't want to talk about this where someone might hear..."
Gwen waited patiently, listening to the sounds of a door closing and locking.
"There, now I can sit and chat for a while," Emma said, and Gwen could hear the smile in her voice. "How are you? How's Rhys and that handsome boss of yours?"
"I'm good, Rhys is a darling and Jack's Jack. Also I'm getting married soon and I would love you to come, if you can get the time off," Gwen added.
"Rhys proposed? Oh I'm so happy for you, Gwen!"
"He did and I said yes. You will come?"
"I will," Emma said. "I'd like to..." and she sounded hesitant.
"What's happened?" Gwen asked. "Why did you want me to ring?" Might as well get into it, she thought.
"Well, it's Katya and Sofia," Emma said. "I knew they shared the other bedroom, but I found something out..."
"You can tell me," Gwen said, having a suspicion but honestly there were a few other explanations and she'd better let Emma tell her which one.
"I got up a few nights ago - I wrote the letter the next day - and the door was open," Emma said, speaking softly but she was clearly talking right into the phone, so Gwen could hear. "I was going to close it, and I saw... oh, Gwen, I didn't..." she hesitated. "I saw them. Together. Naked. Like they were having sex only... I didn't know girls could..."
"What did you see them doing?" Gwen asked, because honestly, she knew Emma didn't know that much about sex. It was still possible for it to be a misunderstanding. Not likely, admittedly.
"I... I..." Emma sounded flustered. "Well, they were naked. And Katya's hand was on... Sofia's breast, and squeezing. And... and Sofia, had something... not her hand, and she was moving it between Katya's legs... I think they were doing... something. They were... moaning. That was when I left."
I'm sure they were moaning, Gwen thought. "Well, does it make a difference, Emma? They're not... not pressuring you to join them or anything?"
"Oh, no, not at all, they don't know I saw them. But I was reading one of those books, it said sometimes women are... together like that. They can have relationships and everything and sometimes go on to be with a man or... just be with a woman forever. I mean, I had heard that some confirmed bachelors were like that but not... not women..."
Gwen knew Ianto had told Emma (and the others) a little about that, mostly because of his relationship with Jack and the possibility of them being seen.
"Then what's the difficulty?" Gwen asked. "Or was this it?"
"Not... not quite," Emma said. "You see, Sandra came back to the shop that same morning after I saw them, the morning I sent the letter, from her holidays."
"And?"
"Have you ever seen someone walk into a room and wanted to know what it was like to kiss them? Or touch them?"
Jack, Gwen's mind whispered. "Yes."
"I thought that about Sandra," Emma whispered. "I don't know if... I don't know. Anything."
"Ah," Gwen nodded. "That's... difficult. Do you get on all right with Sandra?"
"She asked me to go out for lunch, and we talked. She doesn't have a boyfriend... but that doesn't mean a lot," Emma said. "I was looking at things on the computer to see..."
"Well some of that's rubbish," Gwen said. "But if you stay cautious it doesn't matter a lot I suppose."
"I mostly looked at the advice columns," Emma said. "There are a lot..."
"So could you maybe ask Sandra to go out as friends one night - don't say as friends of course - and maybe talk a little bit more?" Gwen suggested. "You could try that?"
"Take her to a club, you mean?" Emma said. "That might be something that could be all right, we could talk and if she goes off with a guy, well..."
"I don't know, but it won't hurt to try, will it?" Gwen smiled into the phone.
"No, I suppose not," Emma said. "Thanks, Gwen! I'll ring you again soon, or write! I'll ask her to go out tomorrow night, it's Friday."
"Bye, Emma," Gwen smiled and went to look in the fridge at the possibilities for dinner.
The next Tuesday there was another letter waiting for Gwen.
"Dear Gwen,
Took your advice and went out to a club with Sandra on Friday. Am still at her flat Sunday night. Will talk to you about the details but she felt like I did when we first saw each other. She's been showing me some very interesting things... and her tongue is amazing. I will let you use your imagination beyond that. Oh - and that invitation to your wedding, do you mind if I bring a guest? I think I might need to.
Love, Emma."