Fic: The Lost Ring
Title: The Lost Ring
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Gwen, Ianto, Jack, Tosh, Herman.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1138
Summary: Gwen has misplaced something very precious. Where can it be?
Spoilers: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 434: Precious at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters
“Where is it?” Gwen mumbled, sounding frustrated and annoyed.
Ianto paused in the middle of handing out the mid-afternoon coffees to look over at his colleague, who was rooting around amongst the untidy clutter of files and other detritus on her workstation, obviously searching for something.
He considered just leaving her to it, surely she’d ask for help if she needed it, but in the end curiosity won, and he wandered over to join her. “Did you lose something?”
Straightening up, Gwen thrust a hand agitatedly through her hair, not for the first time if the state of it was any indication. “Only my bloody engagement ring!”
“Aren’t you wearing it?” From where he was standing, Ianto couldn’t see Gwen’s left hand.
“Would I be searching for it if I was?” Gwen snapped, throwing an irritated glare Ianto’s way before going back to searching her desk, opening the drawers and rummaging through them, then slamming them shut again. “I took it off while I was helping Owen dissect that disgusting slimy thing Jack brought in earlier, didn’t want to get it covered in alien gunk, and I swear I left it right here on my desk, but now it’s gone!” She lowered her voice, muttering something under her breath, then… “If I can’t find it, Rhys will kill me! I promised him I’d be extra careful with it at work. That’s why I took it off, so it wouldn’t get damaged!” She growled, shoving bits and pieces out of her way. “It’s got to be here somewhere!”
It didn’t surprise Ianto that Gwen’s search wasn’t producing noticeable results, except perhaps for worsening the existing mess. She wasn’t exactly being systematic about it.
“Let me just finish handing out the coffees, then I’ll help you look,” Ianto offered, taking pity on her. “I’ll put yours on Tosh’s workstation, shall I? Then it won’t be in your way.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Gwen replied, resuming her angry muttering.
As he headed up to Jack’s office with the final mug, Ianto couldn’t help comparing Gwen to Gollum, imagining her hunched over, hissing about her Precious. He must have been smirking a bit when he handed Jack his coffee, because his lover grinned up at him.
“I know that look. Something going on that I should know about?”
“What? Oh, no, nothing much. Gwen’s misplaced her engagement ring, that’s all. She’s searching around her desk, muttering and mumbling.”
“And that amuses you? Gwen losing her ring?”
“No, of course not. It’s just the way she’s acting. Made me think of Gollum: ‘The Precious, where is it?’ You know, from the Lord of the Rings movies.”
Jack laughed. “My Precious, I needs it!” he whined in a pretty good imitation of the character.
Ianto snorted. “Yeah, exactly like that. It’s not funny though, not really; she’s frantic. Told her I’d help her look for it just as soon as I gave you your coffee, so I’d better go and do that.” Turning on his heel, Ianto left the office and made his way back to Gwen, who was no longer rummaging through the contents of her desk. Instead, she was standing, hands on hips, glaring furiously at Herman the dragon, who was sitting quietly in his nest.
“Gwen? What’s going on now?”
“My ring,” Gwen said, barely glancing Ianto’s way. “It’s not on my desk, so he must have taken it. You know what he’s like with anything shiny.” Frowning at the dragon, she added, “I’m not angry, pet, just let me have my ring back and I’ll forget all about this.”
Herman just cocked his head to one side, clearly confused. “Rowr?”
“Herman doesn’t take things that don’t belong to him, Gwen. Not anymore,” Ianto pointed out. “He doesn’t need to now he’s got his own hoard.”
“I’m not saying he did it on purpose, and really, it’s our own fault for leaving sparkly things around for him to ‘find’, so I’m sure he just made an honest mistake, thought it was one of his treasures. All I want is for him to get off his nest for a minute so I can get my engagement ring back, but he won’t move!”
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty? You don’t know for sure that Herman has anything to do with your missing ring, and as I recall, he hasn’t moved from his nest since lunchtime. You still had your ring then. I remember seeing it.”
“But I’ve searched my desk, and it isn’t there, so where else can it be?”
Ianto glanced at the mess on Gwen’s workstation, in as much disarray as it had been earlier, just with everything moved around. “Sit down, drink your coffee, and I’ll look. If your ring isn’t there, then I’ll ask Herman if he would mind me checking his hoard, but I really don’t think he would take it. You wear it all the time, Herman’s seen that, so he knows it’s yours.”
“Well, nobody else would take it!” Gwen protested, but she sat down and picked up her coffee while Ianto carefully and meticulously sorted through the clutter on her desk, checking her pen holder, and moving her keyboard, leaving everything looking much tidier and better organised. Next, he went through each of the drawers, just in case the ring had fallen into one of them without Gwen noticing.
“Alright, it’s definitely not on, or in, your desk.”
“I already told you that.”
“It had to be re-checked, Gwen. It’s very easy to overlook something when you’re searching in a hurry.”
“It’s not easy to overlook a bloody great diamond ring! Rhys is going to be furious!”
“I’ve not finished my search yet.” Ianto crouched down, poking under and around Gwen’s desk. He even emptied her wastebin to make sure the ring hadn’t been accidentally thrown away.
“Now will you believe me?” Gwen demanded as he straightened up. “There’s nowhere else to look, so tell the bloody dragon to give it back!”
Before Ianto could respond, Tosh appeared in the main Hub. “Gwen?”
“What?” Gwen snapped at the other woman, stressed and irritated.
“Here.” Tosh held something out. “You left your engagement ring on one of the sinks in the ladies. You really shouldn’t just leave it lying around like that. What if it had fallen down the plughole?”
“Oh!” Gwen took the ring. “Thanks, Tosh. I must’ve taken it off to wash my hands before helping Owen.” She slipped the ring back on her finger with a sigh of relief.
“Well, now that’s sorted, I think you owe Herman an apology for your unfounded accusations, don’t you?” Ianto smiled at Gwen, but there was a hard edge to it.
“Yeah, suppose I do.” Gwen looked a bit sheepish as she turned to Herman. “Sorry, pet.”
Herman snorted a small wisp of smoke and settled more comfortably on his nest, not exactly accepting the apology, but willing to let it go for now.
“Perhaps you should try being a bit more careful with your ring in future,” Ianto chided gently. “Put it in a box in your desk drawer, or in your handbag, if you have to take it off for any reason. Something that precious doesn’t deserve to be treated so carelessly.”
Gwen nodded. “You’re right, I’ll be more careful in future.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Gwen, Ianto, Jack, Tosh, Herman.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1138
Summary: Gwen has misplaced something very precious. Where can it be?
Spoilers: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 434: Precious at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters
“Where is it?” Gwen mumbled, sounding frustrated and annoyed.
Ianto paused in the middle of handing out the mid-afternoon coffees to look over at his colleague, who was rooting around amongst the untidy clutter of files and other detritus on her workstation, obviously searching for something.
He considered just leaving her to it, surely she’d ask for help if she needed it, but in the end curiosity won, and he wandered over to join her. “Did you lose something?”
Straightening up, Gwen thrust a hand agitatedly through her hair, not for the first time if the state of it was any indication. “Only my bloody engagement ring!”
“Aren’t you wearing it?” From where he was standing, Ianto couldn’t see Gwen’s left hand.
“Would I be searching for it if I was?” Gwen snapped, throwing an irritated glare Ianto’s way before going back to searching her desk, opening the drawers and rummaging through them, then slamming them shut again. “I took it off while I was helping Owen dissect that disgusting slimy thing Jack brought in earlier, didn’t want to get it covered in alien gunk, and I swear I left it right here on my desk, but now it’s gone!” She lowered her voice, muttering something under her breath, then… “If I can’t find it, Rhys will kill me! I promised him I’d be extra careful with it at work. That’s why I took it off, so it wouldn’t get damaged!” She growled, shoving bits and pieces out of her way. “It’s got to be here somewhere!”
It didn’t surprise Ianto that Gwen’s search wasn’t producing noticeable results, except perhaps for worsening the existing mess. She wasn’t exactly being systematic about it.
“Let me just finish handing out the coffees, then I’ll help you look,” Ianto offered, taking pity on her. “I’ll put yours on Tosh’s workstation, shall I? Then it won’t be in your way.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Gwen replied, resuming her angry muttering.
As he headed up to Jack’s office with the final mug, Ianto couldn’t help comparing Gwen to Gollum, imagining her hunched over, hissing about her Precious. He must have been smirking a bit when he handed Jack his coffee, because his lover grinned up at him.
“I know that look. Something going on that I should know about?”
“What? Oh, no, nothing much. Gwen’s misplaced her engagement ring, that’s all. She’s searching around her desk, muttering and mumbling.”
“And that amuses you? Gwen losing her ring?”
“No, of course not. It’s just the way she’s acting. Made me think of Gollum: ‘The Precious, where is it?’ You know, from the Lord of the Rings movies.”
Jack laughed. “My Precious, I needs it!” he whined in a pretty good imitation of the character.
Ianto snorted. “Yeah, exactly like that. It’s not funny though, not really; she’s frantic. Told her I’d help her look for it just as soon as I gave you your coffee, so I’d better go and do that.” Turning on his heel, Ianto left the office and made his way back to Gwen, who was no longer rummaging through the contents of her desk. Instead, she was standing, hands on hips, glaring furiously at Herman the dragon, who was sitting quietly in his nest.
“Gwen? What’s going on now?”
“My ring,” Gwen said, barely glancing Ianto’s way. “It’s not on my desk, so he must have taken it. You know what he’s like with anything shiny.” Frowning at the dragon, she added, “I’m not angry, pet, just let me have my ring back and I’ll forget all about this.”
Herman just cocked his head to one side, clearly confused. “Rowr?”
“Herman doesn’t take things that don’t belong to him, Gwen. Not anymore,” Ianto pointed out. “He doesn’t need to now he’s got his own hoard.”
“I’m not saying he did it on purpose, and really, it’s our own fault for leaving sparkly things around for him to ‘find’, so I’m sure he just made an honest mistake, thought it was one of his treasures. All I want is for him to get off his nest for a minute so I can get my engagement ring back, but he won’t move!”
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty? You don’t know for sure that Herman has anything to do with your missing ring, and as I recall, he hasn’t moved from his nest since lunchtime. You still had your ring then. I remember seeing it.”
“But I’ve searched my desk, and it isn’t there, so where else can it be?”
Ianto glanced at the mess on Gwen’s workstation, in as much disarray as it had been earlier, just with everything moved around. “Sit down, drink your coffee, and I’ll look. If your ring isn’t there, then I’ll ask Herman if he would mind me checking his hoard, but I really don’t think he would take it. You wear it all the time, Herman’s seen that, so he knows it’s yours.”
“Well, nobody else would take it!” Gwen protested, but she sat down and picked up her coffee while Ianto carefully and meticulously sorted through the clutter on her desk, checking her pen holder, and moving her keyboard, leaving everything looking much tidier and better organised. Next, he went through each of the drawers, just in case the ring had fallen into one of them without Gwen noticing.
“Alright, it’s definitely not on, or in, your desk.”
“I already told you that.”
“It had to be re-checked, Gwen. It’s very easy to overlook something when you’re searching in a hurry.”
“It’s not easy to overlook a bloody great diamond ring! Rhys is going to be furious!”
“I’ve not finished my search yet.” Ianto crouched down, poking under and around Gwen’s desk. He even emptied her wastebin to make sure the ring hadn’t been accidentally thrown away.
“Now will you believe me?” Gwen demanded as he straightened up. “There’s nowhere else to look, so tell the bloody dragon to give it back!”
Before Ianto could respond, Tosh appeared in the main Hub. “Gwen?”
“What?” Gwen snapped at the other woman, stressed and irritated.
“Here.” Tosh held something out. “You left your engagement ring on one of the sinks in the ladies. You really shouldn’t just leave it lying around like that. What if it had fallen down the plughole?”
“Oh!” Gwen took the ring. “Thanks, Tosh. I must’ve taken it off to wash my hands before helping Owen.” She slipped the ring back on her finger with a sigh of relief.
“Well, now that’s sorted, I think you owe Herman an apology for your unfounded accusations, don’t you?” Ianto smiled at Gwen, but there was a hard edge to it.
“Yeah, suppose I do.” Gwen looked a bit sheepish as she turned to Herman. “Sorry, pet.”
Herman snorted a small wisp of smoke and settled more comfortably on his nest, not exactly accepting the apology, but willing to let it go for now.
“Perhaps you should try being a bit more careful with your ring in future,” Ianto chided gently. “Put it in a box in your desk drawer, or in your handbag, if you have to take it off for any reason. Something that precious doesn’t deserve to be treated so carelessly.”
Gwen nodded. “You’re right, I’ll be more careful in future.”
The End