2 Torchwood and 2 Doctor Who drabbles: Earth Quartet
Author: rustydog
Rating: G
Description: Four drabbles on the theme of "earth." Written for Earth Day (I'm a little late) and writercon100.
(Previously: Wind Quartet)
Earth Quartet
1.
Title: The Flavor of the Universe
Fandom: Doctor Who
Summary: The Doctor ventures out.
Sick of the passivity-criminal negligence, he had accused in the heat of the moment-he had fled the citadel and found the other half of Gallifrey: the wild people wearing skins and carrying handmade projectiles. He knew himself superior in intellect and knowledge, but he admired their hyperalert curiosity. Survival made them sharp.
The leader taught him to taste the sand. Five distinct minerals sang on his tongue, five histories, five prophecies. A window crashed open in his mind: this was Gallifrey. This was the real universe.
The next day, he stole a TARDIS and went to taste more.
2.
Title: Biodiversity
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Owen, Jack
Summary: "I've got your diversity right here."
Jack found Owen laughing at a documentary on biodiversity.
"If they only knew, huh?"
Owen snorted. "I've got your 'diversity' right down in the cells, howling bloody murder."
"Hey, don't knock it. We had an exobiologist in the seventies, studied some of the microfauna coming through the Rift-she found species colonizing important gaps in the ecosystem left by extinct earth organisms."
"Nobody else knows?"
Jack grinned. "Well, every time some kid on a school trip finds iridescent orange frogspawn, I end up having to forge a science report and fork over lots of chocolate bars. It's worth it though."
3.
Title: The Scent of Surrender
Fandom: Torchwood (spoilers for 2x13)
Characters: Jack
Summary: Sense memory can knock you off your feet.
It's impractical to keep the botany lab now-none of them has the inclination for the research. But no one will say it, and they continue to tend the plants out of... loyalty, Jack supposes.
He shifts a pot containing one of the few specimens growing in ordinary earth. Some of the contents spill and the scent drifts.
Soil used to remind him of Estelle, but now... the effect is so strong, his breath catches like he's been slammed against a wall. It's darkness, struggle, then finally-Jack closes his eyes-peace.
He wishes he could have given Owen that.
Note: "...she volunteered to work on the land..."
4.
Title: What Gravity Brings to the Ground
Fandom: Classic Who/Sarah Jane
Summary: Being grounded isn't easy.
For months after being left, Sarah Jane fought the crushing details of life on Earth. To have to hoover, pay bus fare, sit in waiting rooms, rinse milk bottles, leave the city to see the stars-it was just too mundane to survive.
Then one Tuesday in March, she licked a stamp and placed it neatly on an envelope. It was a pretty stamp, quirky with its juxtaposition of a chemical model and a sliced grapefruit. The Doctor would love it. You humans, he would say, ingenious, combining science and the Royal Mail.
Finally, she saw Earth through his eyes.
Note 1: British Achievement in Chemistry stamp (1977)
Note 2: Somebody please make a Sarah Jane vid to Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth"?
Rating: G
Description: Four drabbles on the theme of "earth." Written for Earth Day (I'm a little late) and writercon100.
(Previously: Wind Quartet)
Earth Quartet
1.
Title: The Flavor of the Universe
Fandom: Doctor Who
Summary: The Doctor ventures out.
Sick of the passivity-criminal negligence, he had accused in the heat of the moment-he had fled the citadel and found the other half of Gallifrey: the wild people wearing skins and carrying handmade projectiles. He knew himself superior in intellect and knowledge, but he admired their hyperalert curiosity. Survival made them sharp.
The leader taught him to taste the sand. Five distinct minerals sang on his tongue, five histories, five prophecies. A window crashed open in his mind: this was Gallifrey. This was the real universe.
The next day, he stole a TARDIS and went to taste more.
2.
Title: Biodiversity
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Owen, Jack
Summary: "I've got your diversity right here."
Jack found Owen laughing at a documentary on biodiversity.
"If they only knew, huh?"
Owen snorted. "I've got your 'diversity' right down in the cells, howling bloody murder."
"Hey, don't knock it. We had an exobiologist in the seventies, studied some of the microfauna coming through the Rift-she found species colonizing important gaps in the ecosystem left by extinct earth organisms."
"Nobody else knows?"
Jack grinned. "Well, every time some kid on a school trip finds iridescent orange frogspawn, I end up having to forge a science report and fork over lots of chocolate bars. It's worth it though."
3.
Title: The Scent of Surrender
Fandom: Torchwood (spoilers for 2x13)
Characters: Jack
Summary: Sense memory can knock you off your feet.
It's impractical to keep the botany lab now-none of them has the inclination for the research. But no one will say it, and they continue to tend the plants out of... loyalty, Jack supposes.
He shifts a pot containing one of the few specimens growing in ordinary earth. Some of the contents spill and the scent drifts.
Soil used to remind him of Estelle, but now... the effect is so strong, his breath catches like he's been slammed against a wall. It's darkness, struggle, then finally-Jack closes his eyes-peace.
He wishes he could have given Owen that.
Note: "...she volunteered to work on the land..."
4.
Title: What Gravity Brings to the Ground
Fandom: Classic Who/Sarah Jane
Summary: Being grounded isn't easy.
For months after being left, Sarah Jane fought the crushing details of life on Earth. To have to hoover, pay bus fare, sit in waiting rooms, rinse milk bottles, leave the city to see the stars-it was just too mundane to survive.
Then one Tuesday in March, she licked a stamp and placed it neatly on an envelope. It was a pretty stamp, quirky with its juxtaposition of a chemical model and a sliced grapefruit. The Doctor would love it. You humans, he would say, ingenious, combining science and the Royal Mail.
Finally, she saw Earth through his eyes.
Note 1: British Achievement in Chemistry stamp (1977)
Note 2: Somebody please make a Sarah Jane vid to Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth"?