Fic: Pretending to See the Future 1/1 [G] Torchwood 4
Title: Pretending to See the Future
Author: A Lanart
Character(s)/pairings: OCs only
Fandom and/or Prompt: Torchwood. No prompt
Rating: G
Spoilers/Warnings: It's got a good dollop of Crack but otherwise none.
Disclaimer: The Whoniverse belongs to the BBC and I'm sure the Oxford Pub belongs to someone too...
Title from the song of the same name by OMD
Written for Day 2 at consci_fan_mo
A/N: This is continuing the story of Torchwood 4, which was once lost, but is now currently active in Liverpool. After I'd decided TW4 was in Liverpool and *where* it would be I then had to think about how you'd get to it, which is where the Oxford pub came in...
The rest of my Torchwood 4 stories can be read at my AO3 account or by following my Torchwood 4 tag on LJ.
~*~
Pretending to See the Future
*
In Liverpool, close to the university, there is a pub. This is not exactly unusual; students do after all like to partake regularly of liquid refreshment and Liverpool is rightly famous for its public houses. There aren’t many places where you can go out on a pub crawl and only move 300 yards down the road in about 6 hours, but Liverpool has plenty.
No, what is unusual about this pub is its location. It sits beside an unimpressive but sometimes busy road, splendid in its isolation. Once there were other buildings surrounding it, but these have long gone; lost in the devastation of 1940 and what came after. Now, the Oxford Pub stands as a lonely sentinel to times past, barely noticed as people rush by, to-ing and fro-ing between supposedly more interesting places.
Little do they know that the Oxford conceals one of Liverpool’s best kept secrets.
*
Xocha Zhatuq Shivqntalvoth, known to his friends as Shiv, had been the publican of The Oxford for many, many years - though most people assumed he was his own nephew or some such thing and Shiv was more than happy that they saw it that way. Explaining the reality of the situation would have been a little… complicated. He was one of Liverpool’s many immigrants, from Cuzco; the planet that is, not the city in Peru. As such, Shiv was entrusted with taking care of the Oxford, or more accurately the contents of its sub-cellar, by Torchwood, until the appropriate time.
The only problem for Shiv was that Torchwood had forgotten to tell him when the appropriate time would be, and now they seemed to have forgotten about Shiv. Not that he was bothered; he had a life and family in Liverpool and enjoyed the cosmopolitan air of the city. Like him, not all of Liverpool’s immigrants were natives of earth and once a month he would have a stay behind so they could all congregate in the bar of the Oxford, wearing their natural appearances, without worrying about getting arrested, sectioned or conscripted as film extras. However, he didn’t tell them about the secret in the sub-cellar; that was his and his alone, a secret he only passed on to one person in every human generation just in case something unexpected happened to him. In this generation it was his great-granddaughter, Miri. The only obviously alien thing about Miri was her hair, but young people being what they were she was the envy of all her friends for finding such a vibrant hair colour that didn’t fade. Neither Miri nor Shiv deigned to correct their assumptions.
It was just another day, and Shiv was polishing the taps in the bar when Miri, her purple hair streaming out behind her, burst through the door from the cellar, yelling at the top of her not inconsiderable voice.
“Da! Da! It’s activated!”
Shiv didn’t have to ask what, there was only one thing it would be to get his oh-so-laid-back Miri in such a state of excitement. Torchwood 4 was finally on its way, after decades of waiting. He sighed.
“At last. Looks like our job is almost done, chick. What shall we do with our new found freedom?”
“Keep running the pub? They’re bound to be thirsty after all.”
“Oh you. Too attached to this place, that’s what you are.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? It’s home.” And that’s where she had a point, Shiv thought. It *was* home for Miri; to her, his planet of origin was just another one of his stories.
“True. Well, they aren’t here yet, but I don’t think we’ll have long to wait. I won’t bother opening up unless one of the gang knocks and that way we can at least *try* to prepare for whatever Torchwood decides to throw at us. I never thought we would have to wait so long.”
It had been strange, the waiting. When he’d first been informed of his assignment by Torchwood he had been somewhat confused as apparently Torchwood 4 was thriving beneath Dudley in the midlands. He also hadn’t been aware of the extensive network of tunnels and caverns that lay beneath his feet, sunk into the very sandstone bones of Liverpool. There were rumours of course, and The Mole of Edge Hill was a local legend but it seemed the legend hid far more than it revealed. Far beneath Williamson’s ‘public’ tunnels was what would become Torchwood 4 at some unspecified point in time. Shiv had been fascinated and readily agreed to become the caretaker, the longevity of his race being a distinct advantage for undertaking the task. It had been a two-fold task; he had to await their appearance in Liverpool and their disappearance from Dudley. It was made all the more complicated by the fact that there was a possibility that they might reappear before they’d disappeared in the first place, which made his ear-spines ache just thinking about it. Luckily for him, they hadn’t, and he’d enjoyed a celebratory drink in September 2002 when an earthquake indicated their disappearance. Now it seemed they were likely to be turning up at any moment. Well, the Oxford and its residents would be ready, no matter what came through the door in the sub-cellar that currently led to nothing. Of that much he was certain, or he wasn’t Xocha Zhatuq Shivqntalvoth.
~*~
If you're so inclined you can find out more about the real Williamson's Tunnels at wiki and beyond. Joseph Williamson, who built the tunnels, really was known as the Mole of Edge Hill and sometimes the King of Edge Hill. And you can look at the Oxford on google maps street view - L7 3NY.
Author: A Lanart
Character(s)/pairings: OCs only
Fandom and/or Prompt: Torchwood. No prompt
Rating: G
Spoilers/Warnings: It's got a good dollop of Crack but otherwise none.
Disclaimer: The Whoniverse belongs to the BBC and I'm sure the Oxford Pub belongs to someone too...
Title from the song of the same name by OMD
Written for Day 2 at consci_fan_mo
A/N: This is continuing the story of Torchwood 4, which was once lost, but is now currently active in Liverpool. After I'd decided TW4 was in Liverpool and *where* it would be I then had to think about how you'd get to it, which is where the Oxford pub came in...
The rest of my Torchwood 4 stories can be read at my AO3 account or by following my Torchwood 4 tag on LJ.
~*~
Pretending to See the Future
*
In Liverpool, close to the university, there is a pub. This is not exactly unusual; students do after all like to partake regularly of liquid refreshment and Liverpool is rightly famous for its public houses. There aren’t many places where you can go out on a pub crawl and only move 300 yards down the road in about 6 hours, but Liverpool has plenty.
No, what is unusual about this pub is its location. It sits beside an unimpressive but sometimes busy road, splendid in its isolation. Once there were other buildings surrounding it, but these have long gone; lost in the devastation of 1940 and what came after. Now, the Oxford Pub stands as a lonely sentinel to times past, barely noticed as people rush by, to-ing and fro-ing between supposedly more interesting places.
Little do they know that the Oxford conceals one of Liverpool’s best kept secrets.
*
Xocha Zhatuq Shivqntalvoth, known to his friends as Shiv, had been the publican of The Oxford for many, many years - though most people assumed he was his own nephew or some such thing and Shiv was more than happy that they saw it that way. Explaining the reality of the situation would have been a little… complicated. He was one of Liverpool’s many immigrants, from Cuzco; the planet that is, not the city in Peru. As such, Shiv was entrusted with taking care of the Oxford, or more accurately the contents of its sub-cellar, by Torchwood, until the appropriate time.
The only problem for Shiv was that Torchwood had forgotten to tell him when the appropriate time would be, and now they seemed to have forgotten about Shiv. Not that he was bothered; he had a life and family in Liverpool and enjoyed the cosmopolitan air of the city. Like him, not all of Liverpool’s immigrants were natives of earth and once a month he would have a stay behind so they could all congregate in the bar of the Oxford, wearing their natural appearances, without worrying about getting arrested, sectioned or conscripted as film extras. However, he didn’t tell them about the secret in the sub-cellar; that was his and his alone, a secret he only passed on to one person in every human generation just in case something unexpected happened to him. In this generation it was his great-granddaughter, Miri. The only obviously alien thing about Miri was her hair, but young people being what they were she was the envy of all her friends for finding such a vibrant hair colour that didn’t fade. Neither Miri nor Shiv deigned to correct their assumptions.
It was just another day, and Shiv was polishing the taps in the bar when Miri, her purple hair streaming out behind her, burst through the door from the cellar, yelling at the top of her not inconsiderable voice.
“Da! Da! It’s activated!”
Shiv didn’t have to ask what, there was only one thing it would be to get his oh-so-laid-back Miri in such a state of excitement. Torchwood 4 was finally on its way, after decades of waiting. He sighed.
“At last. Looks like our job is almost done, chick. What shall we do with our new found freedom?”
“Keep running the pub? They’re bound to be thirsty after all.”
“Oh you. Too attached to this place, that’s what you are.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? It’s home.” And that’s where she had a point, Shiv thought. It *was* home for Miri; to her, his planet of origin was just another one of his stories.
“True. Well, they aren’t here yet, but I don’t think we’ll have long to wait. I won’t bother opening up unless one of the gang knocks and that way we can at least *try* to prepare for whatever Torchwood decides to throw at us. I never thought we would have to wait so long.”
It had been strange, the waiting. When he’d first been informed of his assignment by Torchwood he had been somewhat confused as apparently Torchwood 4 was thriving beneath Dudley in the midlands. He also hadn’t been aware of the extensive network of tunnels and caverns that lay beneath his feet, sunk into the very sandstone bones of Liverpool. There were rumours of course, and The Mole of Edge Hill was a local legend but it seemed the legend hid far more than it revealed. Far beneath Williamson’s ‘public’ tunnels was what would become Torchwood 4 at some unspecified point in time. Shiv had been fascinated and readily agreed to become the caretaker, the longevity of his race being a distinct advantage for undertaking the task. It had been a two-fold task; he had to await their appearance in Liverpool and their disappearance from Dudley. It was made all the more complicated by the fact that there was a possibility that they might reappear before they’d disappeared in the first place, which made his ear-spines ache just thinking about it. Luckily for him, they hadn’t, and he’d enjoyed a celebratory drink in September 2002 when an earthquake indicated their disappearance. Now it seemed they were likely to be turning up at any moment. Well, the Oxford and its residents would be ready, no matter what came through the door in the sub-cellar that currently led to nothing. Of that much he was certain, or he wasn’t Xocha Zhatuq Shivqntalvoth.
~*~
If you're so inclined you can find out more about the real Williamson's Tunnels at wiki and beyond. Joseph Williamson, who built the tunnels, really was known as the Mole of Edge Hill and sometimes the King of Edge Hill. And you can look at the Oxford on google maps street view - L7 3NY.