Fic: Quick Thinking
Title: Quick Thinking
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto, OCs.
Rating: G
Word Count: 973
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Fluffs are versatile people; Nosy can find its way around most situations when it tries.
Written For: Challenge 326: Button at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
When the buzzer inside the flat went off one morning, indicating that there was someone at the downstairs entrance, Nosy wasn’t sure what it should do. Jack was at work, Meriel was at school, and Ianto was in the middle of changing the twins, which was always a complicated task. The Fluff hesitated, wondering whether it should alert Ianto and watch over the twins while he dealt with whoever was downstairs. Or perhaps whoever it was would go away.
The buzzer sounded again and Nosy came to a quick decision. Fetching Ianto would take too long, so slithering over to the front door and raising the front metre or so of its long body off the floor, it stretched upwards to reach, and dobbed its snout against the intercom button.
“Mm?” it said, hoping it sounded like a distracted human.
“Package for a Mister Harkness-Jones,” a voice said. “Recorded delivery, needs a signature.”
“Hm.” Nosy released the intercom and pressed the button to open the downstairs door, hoping the postman would get the message. Not being able to form human words could be a nuisance.
“Should I come up?” the postie asked, sounding uncertain.
“Mmm.”
Releasing the talk button again, Nosy hurried up to the nursery.
“HUMMM!” it told Ianto urgently, then grabbed some of the twins’ blocks and spelled out ‘DOOR’. Thankfully there were sets of blocks all over the flat in case of communication emergencies.
Ianto glanced at Nosy, then down at the blocks. “Someone’s at the door?”
“HUM!”
Seldom had Nosy felt more like Skippy the bush kangaroo… Maybe Ianto was right and it watched too much TV, but in that case it was Jack’s fault for introducing Meriel and the twelve-month-old twins to what he called classic children’s TV shows. If they were good enough for small humans then they were good enough for Fluffs, and besides, Skippy was very smart for an animal. The kangaroo set a good example for the Flufflets, alerting its human to things that needed his attention.
Hurriedly buttoning Gareth’s romper suit, Ianto tucked one twin under each arm and carried them downstairs, depositing them on the living room floor on his way to the door. Nosy herded the Flufflets, who went everywhere the twins did, out of sight behind the sofa just in time. The upstairs doorbell rang and Ianto dashed up the steps to answer it.
“Hello. Is that for me?” He indicated the package in the postman’s hands.
“Mister Harkness-Jones?”
“That’s right.”
“Is everything okay? You sounded a bit odd over the intercom.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, I had my mouth full. You ever try eating breakfast while juggling twins? It’s not easy.” Ianto gestured to where Jenna was apparently trying to tie her brother in a knot. “Jenna, stop that, sweetie! Gareth’s legs don’t bend like that.” He turned back to the postman. “I need eyes in the back of my head with those two. Do I need to sign anything?”
“Yes, right here.” The postman held out his electronic device and the stylus for Ianto to grace with a vague squiggle that looked nothing like his signature. Nosy probably could have done better.
Behind him the drama continued. Gareth yelled a protest, hitting his sister in the face with a teddy bear, and Jenna promptly burst into tears.
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full; I’d better let you go sort your twins out. Good luck with that, I think you’ll need it.”
The postman handed the package to Ianto, who thanked him and closed the door, putting the post on the small table that stood against the wall just inside the flat. He didn’t need to sort the kids out though. As soon as the door was shut, Nosy and the Flufflets emerged from their hiding place, separating the twins. Squiggle hummed sternly at Gareth, whose bottom lip started to wobble in a very Jack-like way, while Spot comforted Jenna and Nosy rescued the abused teddy, making sure its legs were still firmly attached. The twins weren’t exactly gentle with their toys. It was a good thing the Flufflets were so robust; they held up a lot better than stuffed animals did.
“I’d better check the downstairs door shut properly,” Ianto told Nosy. “Can’t have people randomly wandering in off the street. Think you can keep an eye on everybody for five minutes?”
Nosy hummed in the affirmative and Ianto slipped out, shutting the door behind him. The twins didn’t even notice he’d gone, which said a lot about where he stood on their list of priorities. As long as they had their Flufflets, Nosy, and each other, nothing else mattered. They only wanted their taddy when they needed changing or feeding, and if the Flufflets could manage those tasks Ianto thought he’d probably be surplus to requirements. Ah well, at least Jack and Meriel still wanted him. Nosy too.
Returning upstairs after checking the door, Ianto decided that the following day, when it would be his turn to go to work, he’d see if Tosh could create an attachment for the intercom that would allow Nosy to activate short, recorded messages at the touch of a button. Just a few phrases, such as ‘Who is it?’, ‘Leave it inside the door’, and ‘Come on up’. That way, next time there was a delivery and no human was available, Nosy would have a much easier time. The Fluff had handled the situation remarkably well under the circumstances, though, and Ianto made sure to tell it.
“That was quick thinking, young Fluff,” he praised, kneeling to pet the furry alien. “Saved me having to reschedule delivery for another day.”
“Hum,” Nosy replied modestly. It was always happy to help its friends, in whatever ways it could. Where there was a will, a Fluff could almost always find a way.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto, OCs.
Rating: G
Word Count: 973
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Fluffs are versatile people; Nosy can find its way around most situations when it tries.
Written For: Challenge 326: Button at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
When the buzzer inside the flat went off one morning, indicating that there was someone at the downstairs entrance, Nosy wasn’t sure what it should do. Jack was at work, Meriel was at school, and Ianto was in the middle of changing the twins, which was always a complicated task. The Fluff hesitated, wondering whether it should alert Ianto and watch over the twins while he dealt with whoever was downstairs. Or perhaps whoever it was would go away.
The buzzer sounded again and Nosy came to a quick decision. Fetching Ianto would take too long, so slithering over to the front door and raising the front metre or so of its long body off the floor, it stretched upwards to reach, and dobbed its snout against the intercom button.
“Mm?” it said, hoping it sounded like a distracted human.
“Package for a Mister Harkness-Jones,” a voice said. “Recorded delivery, needs a signature.”
“Hm.” Nosy released the intercom and pressed the button to open the downstairs door, hoping the postman would get the message. Not being able to form human words could be a nuisance.
“Should I come up?” the postie asked, sounding uncertain.
“Mmm.”
Releasing the talk button again, Nosy hurried up to the nursery.
“HUMMM!” it told Ianto urgently, then grabbed some of the twins’ blocks and spelled out ‘DOOR’. Thankfully there were sets of blocks all over the flat in case of communication emergencies.
Ianto glanced at Nosy, then down at the blocks. “Someone’s at the door?”
“HUM!”
Seldom had Nosy felt more like Skippy the bush kangaroo… Maybe Ianto was right and it watched too much TV, but in that case it was Jack’s fault for introducing Meriel and the twelve-month-old twins to what he called classic children’s TV shows. If they were good enough for small humans then they were good enough for Fluffs, and besides, Skippy was very smart for an animal. The kangaroo set a good example for the Flufflets, alerting its human to things that needed his attention.
Hurriedly buttoning Gareth’s romper suit, Ianto tucked one twin under each arm and carried them downstairs, depositing them on the living room floor on his way to the door. Nosy herded the Flufflets, who went everywhere the twins did, out of sight behind the sofa just in time. The upstairs doorbell rang and Ianto dashed up the steps to answer it.
“Hello. Is that for me?” He indicated the package in the postman’s hands.
“Mister Harkness-Jones?”
“That’s right.”
“Is everything okay? You sounded a bit odd over the intercom.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, I had my mouth full. You ever try eating breakfast while juggling twins? It’s not easy.” Ianto gestured to where Jenna was apparently trying to tie her brother in a knot. “Jenna, stop that, sweetie! Gareth’s legs don’t bend like that.” He turned back to the postman. “I need eyes in the back of my head with those two. Do I need to sign anything?”
“Yes, right here.” The postman held out his electronic device and the stylus for Ianto to grace with a vague squiggle that looked nothing like his signature. Nosy probably could have done better.
Behind him the drama continued. Gareth yelled a protest, hitting his sister in the face with a teddy bear, and Jenna promptly burst into tears.
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full; I’d better let you go sort your twins out. Good luck with that, I think you’ll need it.”
The postman handed the package to Ianto, who thanked him and closed the door, putting the post on the small table that stood against the wall just inside the flat. He didn’t need to sort the kids out though. As soon as the door was shut, Nosy and the Flufflets emerged from their hiding place, separating the twins. Squiggle hummed sternly at Gareth, whose bottom lip started to wobble in a very Jack-like way, while Spot comforted Jenna and Nosy rescued the abused teddy, making sure its legs were still firmly attached. The twins weren’t exactly gentle with their toys. It was a good thing the Flufflets were so robust; they held up a lot better than stuffed animals did.
“I’d better check the downstairs door shut properly,” Ianto told Nosy. “Can’t have people randomly wandering in off the street. Think you can keep an eye on everybody for five minutes?”
Nosy hummed in the affirmative and Ianto slipped out, shutting the door behind him. The twins didn’t even notice he’d gone, which said a lot about where he stood on their list of priorities. As long as they had their Flufflets, Nosy, and each other, nothing else mattered. They only wanted their taddy when they needed changing or feeding, and if the Flufflets could manage those tasks Ianto thought he’d probably be surplus to requirements. Ah well, at least Jack and Meriel still wanted him. Nosy too.
Returning upstairs after checking the door, Ianto decided that the following day, when it would be his turn to go to work, he’d see if Tosh could create an attachment for the intercom that would allow Nosy to activate short, recorded messages at the touch of a button. Just a few phrases, such as ‘Who is it?’, ‘Leave it inside the door’, and ‘Come on up’. That way, next time there was a delivery and no human was available, Nosy would have a much easier time. The Fluff had handled the situation remarkably well under the circumstances, though, and Ianto made sure to tell it.
“That was quick thinking, young Fluff,” he praised, kneeling to pet the furry alien. “Saved me having to reschedule delivery for another day.”
“Hum,” Nosy replied modestly. It was always happy to help its friends, in whatever ways it could. Where there was a will, a Fluff could almost always find a way.
The End