Ficlet: More Than It Seems - Sequel to ‘Blanket Comfort’
Title: More Than It Seems - Sequel to ‘ Blanket Comfort’
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Owen, Snuggles.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Owen meets Snuggles the semi-sentient blanket on its first day at Torchwood.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 203: Cloth at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Owen did a double take when he arrived at the Hub early one morning, wanting to check on his current Weevil patient, and found Ianto in the Hub’s kitchenette with a lavender coloured blanket draped around his shoulders.
“Are you sick or something? And if so, what’re you doing at work and why didn’t you call me? I am a fully qualified doctor, you know.”
Ianto glanced over his shoulder at his colleague. “Not likely to forget that, not with the number of times you remind us every day. Sorry to disappoint though, I’m perfectly fine, it’s just that Snuggles here has a touch of separation anxiety. I tried leaving it on the sofa, but… Well, it got scared and lonely. It was okay when it was hanging out with Jack’s coat, but he had to go out. Rift alert.”
“Leaving out the whole scared and lonely bit for a minute, you named your blanket Snuggles?”
“It’s not mine, precisely, and it’s not a blanket as such, that’s just the form it takes to comfort itself.”
“Did you hit your head or something? Because you’re not making sense.”
Ianto sighed. “There was a Rift alert yesterday after everyone else had gone home. This…” He gestured at the blanket, “is what we found. Jack says it’s semi-sentient fabric from the thirty-seventh century. Unfortunately, this piece has… abandonment issues, I suppose. It spent the night quite happily on our bed, changed to coat shape to hang on the rack in Jack’s office, but it reverted to a blanket after he went out so I’m sort of blanket-sitting until he gets back. It’s no trouble.”
“Semi-sentient blanket, huh? Now I’ve really heard everything.”
“It doesn’t have to be a blanket. It can be anything it wants to be. Coat, hat, scarf, shirt, tablecloth…” Ianto shrugged and Snuggles wrapped itself tighter around his shoulders to keep from falling off. “I think it’ll be quite useful. It gets chilly down in the archives, so if I need it to, Snuggles can be a warm jacket or a cosy sweater.”
As if understanding Ianto’s words, the blanket seemed to melt and flow, changing colour as it did so, sleeves extending down his arms as it became a dark grey overcoat that toned very nicely with Ianto’s slightly lighter suit.
Owen watched in fascination. “How does it do that?”
“I have no idea. And before you say anything, no, you are not running tests on Snuggles, I’m not having you scaring it, or hurting it in any way.”
“Oh come on, it’s a piece of cloth, not a living creature. All I’d need would be a tiny piece off one corner.”
Just like that, Snuggles changed shape again, shrinking fast, until it was a white pocket handkerchief, vanishing into Ianto’s breast pocket.
“Now look what you’ve done!”
“Sorry, I just wanted to see what it would do if it felt threatened. I wouldn’t really cut it up, I swear.”
“You’d better not. Snuggles is under my protection.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Owen, Snuggles.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Owen meets Snuggles the semi-sentient blanket on its first day at Torchwood.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 203: Cloth at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Owen did a double take when he arrived at the Hub early one morning, wanting to check on his current Weevil patient, and found Ianto in the Hub’s kitchenette with a lavender coloured blanket draped around his shoulders.
“Are you sick or something? And if so, what’re you doing at work and why didn’t you call me? I am a fully qualified doctor, you know.”
Ianto glanced over his shoulder at his colleague. “Not likely to forget that, not with the number of times you remind us every day. Sorry to disappoint though, I’m perfectly fine, it’s just that Snuggles here has a touch of separation anxiety. I tried leaving it on the sofa, but… Well, it got scared and lonely. It was okay when it was hanging out with Jack’s coat, but he had to go out. Rift alert.”
“Leaving out the whole scared and lonely bit for a minute, you named your blanket Snuggles?”
“It’s not mine, precisely, and it’s not a blanket as such, that’s just the form it takes to comfort itself.”
“Did you hit your head or something? Because you’re not making sense.”
Ianto sighed. “There was a Rift alert yesterday after everyone else had gone home. This…” He gestured at the blanket, “is what we found. Jack says it’s semi-sentient fabric from the thirty-seventh century. Unfortunately, this piece has… abandonment issues, I suppose. It spent the night quite happily on our bed, changed to coat shape to hang on the rack in Jack’s office, but it reverted to a blanket after he went out so I’m sort of blanket-sitting until he gets back. It’s no trouble.”
“Semi-sentient blanket, huh? Now I’ve really heard everything.”
“It doesn’t have to be a blanket. It can be anything it wants to be. Coat, hat, scarf, shirt, tablecloth…” Ianto shrugged and Snuggles wrapped itself tighter around his shoulders to keep from falling off. “I think it’ll be quite useful. It gets chilly down in the archives, so if I need it to, Snuggles can be a warm jacket or a cosy sweater.”
As if understanding Ianto’s words, the blanket seemed to melt and flow, changing colour as it did so, sleeves extending down his arms as it became a dark grey overcoat that toned very nicely with Ianto’s slightly lighter suit.
Owen watched in fascination. “How does it do that?”
“I have no idea. And before you say anything, no, you are not running tests on Snuggles, I’m not having you scaring it, or hurting it in any way.”
“Oh come on, it’s a piece of cloth, not a living creature. All I’d need would be a tiny piece off one corner.”
Just like that, Snuggles changed shape again, shrinking fast, until it was a white pocket handkerchief, vanishing into Ianto’s breast pocket.
“Now look what you’ve done!”
“Sorry, I just wanted to see what it would do if it felt threatened. I wouldn’t really cut it up, I swear.”
“You’d better not. Snuggles is under my protection.”
The End