Ficlet: For The Birds
Title: For The Birds
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto.
Rating: G
Word Count: 787
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Nosy enjoys watching the birds that come to the roof garden.
Written For: Prompt ‘Any, Any, feeding the birds,’ at spring_renewal.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
One of the benefits of a roof garden so high above the city was the complete absence of cats. Not that anyone in the Harkness-Jones family had anything against cats, if asked they would all agree that cats were quite possibly the best domestic pets, and Nosy the Fluff often thought it would be quite nice to have one. It rather liked the idea of having a pet of its own. It had to be said though, there was no doubt that the wild birds were safer without cats around.
Nosy liked birds, perhaps even more than it would have liked having a cat, although it would never want to keep any bird in a cage. It liked to hear the birds singing sweetly out in the branches of the bushes and the fruit trees every morning. It enjoyed watching the small, colourful robins and bluetits and goldfinches flitting about, coming and going from the nestboxes Ianto had put up. Best of all, it loved to see the hungry birds visiting the birdfeeders, and the bird table, knowing that with the help of its friends, it was doing its part to make their lives a little easier, especially during the harsh winter months.
Of course, lacking hands, Nosy was unable to refill the feeders, hanging up peanuts, and suet blocks, and seed dispensers, but it was perfectly capable of taking a dish of food scraps, seed, and suet pellets out to the bird table, and refilling the bird bath with water, even if it had to be a bit careful not to spill anything.
This morning, it was outside in the warm spring weather, watching Ianto check and fill all the hanging feeders while the garden birds waited, twittering impatiently, to get their breakfast. Scooping some seed out of a tub, Nosy slithered over to a clear spot on the pathway and scattered the food there, so that the hungriest birds could have a snack while waiting for the main feeding stations to be open for business.
Almost immediately, a Robin fluttered down, eagerly pecking up the food. The wild birds were far less afraid of Nosy than they were of its human friends, somehow understanding that it wouldn’t harm them. Nosy hummed encouragement, and a couple of sparrows and a blackbird joined the robin.
Finishing what he was doing, Ianto headed for the French doors, putting the tubs of food inside to be returned to the cupboard, and seating himself in the doorway to watch as birds flocked to the feeders. Nosy watched too, marvelling at the way the tiniest birds could hang upside down to eat, and how, despite their size, the clever magpies managed to devise methods of getting at food that should have been out of their reach.
Sometimes, Nosy almost wished it was able to fly, so it could follow the birds and see where they went when they weren’t in the roof garden, picking insects off the plants and feasting on the abundance of food put out for them.
Really, the only birds Nosy wasn’t so fond of were the pigeons, because they were fat and greedy, keeping the smaller birds away from the food and eating it all themselves whenever they had the opportunity. They couldn’t get at the hanging feeders though, they weren’t clever like the magpies, so they mostly only got whatever fell to the ground, or sometimes, what was on the bird table. If it was home and the weather was dry, Nosy would sometimes hide under the table and scare the pigeons away if it thought they were taking more than their share. It was for their own good. After all, if they ate too much, they might get so fat that they wouldn’t be able to fly, and that would be a terrible thing for a bird.
A robin fluttered up onto Nosy’s back, plucking away a few loose strands of its long, green fur to add to the lining of its nest and flying away again. Nosy hummed happily, pleased to know that it was helping the robin’s babies stay warm and cosy. Fluff fur was warmer than anything else the nesting birds would find, so Nosy gave itself a good shake, scattering more loose hairs for anyone who wanted them, then slithered over to join Ianto.
“Enjoying yourself?” Ianto asked, smiling at the Fluff.
“Hummm,” Nosy agreed, curling up contentedly on the warm planks of the decking, where it had an unobstructed view of all the bird feeders. There were few things more satisfying than providing a service for other living creatures, making their lives a little better and easier, and it was good to know its human friends felt the same way.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto.
Rating: G
Word Count: 787
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Nosy enjoys watching the birds that come to the roof garden.
Written For: Prompt ‘Any, Any, feeding the birds,’ at spring_renewal.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
One of the benefits of a roof garden so high above the city was the complete absence of cats. Not that anyone in the Harkness-Jones family had anything against cats, if asked they would all agree that cats were quite possibly the best domestic pets, and Nosy the Fluff often thought it would be quite nice to have one. It rather liked the idea of having a pet of its own. It had to be said though, there was no doubt that the wild birds were safer without cats around.
Nosy liked birds, perhaps even more than it would have liked having a cat, although it would never want to keep any bird in a cage. It liked to hear the birds singing sweetly out in the branches of the bushes and the fruit trees every morning. It enjoyed watching the small, colourful robins and bluetits and goldfinches flitting about, coming and going from the nestboxes Ianto had put up. Best of all, it loved to see the hungry birds visiting the birdfeeders, and the bird table, knowing that with the help of its friends, it was doing its part to make their lives a little easier, especially during the harsh winter months.
Of course, lacking hands, Nosy was unable to refill the feeders, hanging up peanuts, and suet blocks, and seed dispensers, but it was perfectly capable of taking a dish of food scraps, seed, and suet pellets out to the bird table, and refilling the bird bath with water, even if it had to be a bit careful not to spill anything.
This morning, it was outside in the warm spring weather, watching Ianto check and fill all the hanging feeders while the garden birds waited, twittering impatiently, to get their breakfast. Scooping some seed out of a tub, Nosy slithered over to a clear spot on the pathway and scattered the food there, so that the hungriest birds could have a snack while waiting for the main feeding stations to be open for business.
Almost immediately, a Robin fluttered down, eagerly pecking up the food. The wild birds were far less afraid of Nosy than they were of its human friends, somehow understanding that it wouldn’t harm them. Nosy hummed encouragement, and a couple of sparrows and a blackbird joined the robin.
Finishing what he was doing, Ianto headed for the French doors, putting the tubs of food inside to be returned to the cupboard, and seating himself in the doorway to watch as birds flocked to the feeders. Nosy watched too, marvelling at the way the tiniest birds could hang upside down to eat, and how, despite their size, the clever magpies managed to devise methods of getting at food that should have been out of their reach.
Sometimes, Nosy almost wished it was able to fly, so it could follow the birds and see where they went when they weren’t in the roof garden, picking insects off the plants and feasting on the abundance of food put out for them.
Really, the only birds Nosy wasn’t so fond of were the pigeons, because they were fat and greedy, keeping the smaller birds away from the food and eating it all themselves whenever they had the opportunity. They couldn’t get at the hanging feeders though, they weren’t clever like the magpies, so they mostly only got whatever fell to the ground, or sometimes, what was on the bird table. If it was home and the weather was dry, Nosy would sometimes hide under the table and scare the pigeons away if it thought they were taking more than their share. It was for their own good. After all, if they ate too much, they might get so fat that they wouldn’t be able to fly, and that would be a terrible thing for a bird.
A robin fluttered up onto Nosy’s back, plucking away a few loose strands of its long, green fur to add to the lining of its nest and flying away again. Nosy hummed happily, pleased to know that it was helping the robin’s babies stay warm and cosy. Fluff fur was warmer than anything else the nesting birds would find, so Nosy gave itself a good shake, scattering more loose hairs for anyone who wanted them, then slithered over to join Ianto.
“Enjoying yourself?” Ianto asked, smiling at the Fluff.
“Hummm,” Nosy agreed, curling up contentedly on the warm planks of the decking, where it had an unobstructed view of all the bird feeders. There were few things more satisfying than providing a service for other living creatures, making their lives a little better and easier, and it was good to know its human friends felt the same way.
The End