Ficlet: Huffy Fluff
Title: Huffy Fluff
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Andy, Mickey, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Nosy.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada
Summary: Nosy seems to be in a bad mood, but what’s causing it?
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None necessary.
Written For: Prompt 31: Huffy at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“Does anyone know what’s the matter with Nosy?” Andy asked as everybody settled into their usual seats in the boardroom for their morning meeting. It was weird to see the seat at the head of the table, and the one directly to its right, empty, but Jack and Ianto were away on a well-earned holiday, leaving the other members of the team to muddle along without them for two weeks. This was only day three and already they were up against an unanticipated problem, namely the resident Fluff’s uncharacteristically huffy mood.
“No clue,” said Mickey. “It seemed fine last night when I gave it a bedtime cookie and tucked it in.” It had been Mickey’s turn on night duty.
“Maybe it misses Jack and Ianto,” Gwen suggested.
“I don’t think so.” Tosh looked thoughtful. “I mean, it doesn’t seem sad, and didn’t the Doctor say it could cope without them for an extended period as long as it had us around it? The bond it has with the rest of us isn’t as strong as the one it shares with its chosen family, but its more than enough to keep Nosy from pining.”
“And it can’t be picking up something wrong with Jack or Ianto because they have to be within five miles for its empathic sense to register anything,” Owen added. “Maybe there’s something wrong with one of us and that’s what it’s picking up?” He looked from one to another of his colleagues around the table, but they all shook their heads. They felt fine, aside from being a bit concerned about Nosy.
Tosh idly twirled her hair around a finger, thinking. “George gave Nosy its breakfast and morning coffee, I came in early to make sure, so it can’t be hungry.”
“Gwen and I gave it a thorough grooming yesterday,” Andy said. “So that’s not the problem.”
“I played fetch with it for half an hour before breakfast, so it’s not missing out on exercise.” Mickey rested one elbow on the table, and propped his chin on his hand. “This is gettin’ us nowhere. All we’re doin’ is listing the things it isn’t; we’re no closer to figurin’ out what the problem is than we were when we sat down.”
“This is bad,” Andy said gloomily. “Three days without the bosses and we’ve already managed to break the Fluff. They’ll never forgive us.”
“It’s not that bad,” Owen scoffed. “We have a huffy Fluff on our hands, we’ll figure it out. Who’s in charge of filling its water bowl?”
“That would be me.” Tosh raised her hand. “I gave it fresh water last night and again this morning.”
“That rules another thing out.” Owen slumped back in his seat. “Maybe it’s not feeling well. Suppose I’d better run some tests.”
Elsewhere in the Hub, Nosy mooched about, huffing in annoyance and wishing Ianto was here to help. It had searched everywhere it could think of, but it still couldn’t remember where it had left its stuffed sheep.
The End
Sequel: ' Reunited'
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Andy, Mickey, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Nosy.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada
Summary: Nosy seems to be in a bad mood, but what’s causing it?
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None necessary.
Written For: Prompt 31: Huffy at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“Does anyone know what’s the matter with Nosy?” Andy asked as everybody settled into their usual seats in the boardroom for their morning meeting. It was weird to see the seat at the head of the table, and the one directly to its right, empty, but Jack and Ianto were away on a well-earned holiday, leaving the other members of the team to muddle along without them for two weeks. This was only day three and already they were up against an unanticipated problem, namely the resident Fluff’s uncharacteristically huffy mood.
“No clue,” said Mickey. “It seemed fine last night when I gave it a bedtime cookie and tucked it in.” It had been Mickey’s turn on night duty.
“Maybe it misses Jack and Ianto,” Gwen suggested.
“I don’t think so.” Tosh looked thoughtful. “I mean, it doesn’t seem sad, and didn’t the Doctor say it could cope without them for an extended period as long as it had us around it? The bond it has with the rest of us isn’t as strong as the one it shares with its chosen family, but its more than enough to keep Nosy from pining.”
“And it can’t be picking up something wrong with Jack or Ianto because they have to be within five miles for its empathic sense to register anything,” Owen added. “Maybe there’s something wrong with one of us and that’s what it’s picking up?” He looked from one to another of his colleagues around the table, but they all shook their heads. They felt fine, aside from being a bit concerned about Nosy.
Tosh idly twirled her hair around a finger, thinking. “George gave Nosy its breakfast and morning coffee, I came in early to make sure, so it can’t be hungry.”
“Gwen and I gave it a thorough grooming yesterday,” Andy said. “So that’s not the problem.”
“I played fetch with it for half an hour before breakfast, so it’s not missing out on exercise.” Mickey rested one elbow on the table, and propped his chin on his hand. “This is gettin’ us nowhere. All we’re doin’ is listing the things it isn’t; we’re no closer to figurin’ out what the problem is than we were when we sat down.”
“This is bad,” Andy said gloomily. “Three days without the bosses and we’ve already managed to break the Fluff. They’ll never forgive us.”
“It’s not that bad,” Owen scoffed. “We have a huffy Fluff on our hands, we’ll figure it out. Who’s in charge of filling its water bowl?”
“That would be me.” Tosh raised her hand. “I gave it fresh water last night and again this morning.”
“That rules another thing out.” Owen slumped back in his seat. “Maybe it’s not feeling well. Suppose I’d better run some tests.”
Elsewhere in the Hub, Nosy mooched about, huffing in annoyance and wishing Ianto was here to help. It had searched everywhere it could think of, but it still couldn’t remember where it had left its stuffed sheep.
The End
Sequel: ' Reunited'