Fic: Cold Weather Blues
Title: Cold Weather Blues
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Owen, Gwen, Jack.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The weather has unexpectedly turned bitterly cold, and none of the team are enjoying it.
Word Count: 1297
Written For: Prompt 236 - Cold Snap at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
“What’s with the weather?” Owen groused, stumbling through the outer door into the tourist office, a woollen beanie pulled down over his ears, and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. “It’s barely October and it feels like late November!” He went to pull his leather gloves off now that he was out of the wind, took one look at Ianto behind the desk, and changed his mind; Torchwood’s archivist looked like he was dressed for an Arctic trek. “Did you just get in?”
“Nope, been up here for over an hour, but the heating won’t be turned on until the fifteenth, and I prefer not to risk frostbite every time someone comes through the door.” Ianto’s voice was muffled thanks to the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face.
“Yeah, probably wise. What’re conditions like down below?”
“Better than up here. At least downstairs it’s Jack who decides when the heating goes on, not the council. I’ve got an electric heater in the back office, but it’s not making much difference because people keep opening the door and letting the cold air in.”
“People?” Owen sounded sceptical.
“Yes, Owen. This is a tourist office. Tourists come in here to get maps, brochures, and postcards to send to their friends, telling everyone they know what a great time they’re having.”
“On a day like this? It’s October, and it’s bloody freezing!”
“I know, and business has really picked up. I’ve had five groups in already today, wanting to know what there is to do around Cardiff that’s indoors. The museums must be getting a lot of business.”
Owen shook his head. “Tourists in October. What were they thinking?”
“That it’s early October on the Welsh coast and it shouldn’t be this cold?”
“You’ve got that right.” Stalking over to the false wall, Owen waited for Ianto to press the button beneath the counter. “You going to be coming downstairs anytime soon?”
“I’ll give it another half-hour up here, then put up the closed sign. Unless I get another influx of tourists in the meantime. I think the last lot might have been part of a day trip coach excursion, so there’s a chance a few more might wander in. I left a flask of coffee on everyone’s desk, if Jack hasn’t drunk it all. Figured you’d need a hot drink when you arrived.”
“Nice to see you’ve got your priorities straight.”
“I live to serve. Besides, without coffee nothing would get done around here.”
“True enough.” Owen slipped through the door, which closed behind him, and Ianto retreated behind the bead curtain, where it was marginally warmer.
He’d only been there for five minutes, warming his hands in front of the fan heater, when the bell above the door tinkled, and he stepped out to find Gwen, shoulders hunched, looking windswept and half frozen.
“What’s with the weather this morning?”
“Owen asked me exactly the same thing a few minutes ago. I didn’t have an answer for him either.” Ianto pressed the button again, the wall swinging open to admit Gwen. “I may be general support, but weather isn’t among my responsibilities.”
“I was just wonderin’ if maybe the Rift had something to do with it.”
“Not that I’m aware of. Personally, I blame climate change. It’s messing up the weather everywhere.”
“Mm, I guess so. This is a bit much though. There was frost everywhere this morning.”
“I know, Jack and I had to go out on a Rift retrieval just after five. I haven’t taken my coat off since. Pardon me for saying so, but you should probably have wrapped up better.”
Gwen smiled sheepishly, rubbing her hands together, trying to warm frozen fingers “I wasn’t expectin’ it to be so cold.”
“Better get yourself downstairs where it’s a bit warmer. I left a flask of coffee on your desk, if no one’s swiped it.”
“Thanks, sweetheart, you’re a treasure.” Gwen hurried down the corridor towards the lift as the wall swung shut again.
Ianto would have liked to follow, but a few minutes later the tourist office door swung open again, admitting half a dozen shivering tourists, and he spent the next twenty minutes sorting them out. In the end it was almost an hour before he could lock up and join the rest of the team in the main Hub. At least down there, despite the cavernous space, temperatures were tolerable.
If he was hoping to thaw out, he was destined to be disappointed. Jack came out of his office, shrugging into his greatcoat. “Ah, good, you’ve still got your coat on!”
Ianto sighed. “I suppose that means I get to go out in the cold again. Where are we going?”
“Tosh has picked up some anomalous readings coming from the Pengam Industrial Estate, near the pumping station.”
“Oh joy,” Ianto muttered, trailing disconsolately after his lover. “Right by the water, where there’s hardly anything to block the wind.”
At least he managed to warm up a bit on the drive, with the SUV’s heater going full blast, but when they arrived, they stepped out of the warmth into the teeth of an icy gale.
Thankfully, what they were looking for wasn’t hard to find. The squat, silver device was right out in the open, humming quietly to itself. Pulling his coat more tightly around him, Ianto scowled at it.
“Please tell me that’s what’s causing the weather. Maybe if we turn it off, things will warm up.”
“Sorry.” Jack spared Ianto an apologetic smile. “This little chap is just a regular maintenance drone.” He patted the silver object on its domed top. “From the looks of it, it’s probably been wandering around for a while, looking for things to fix. Now its power source is running low so it’s sending out a signal asking to be recharged.”
Shoulders slumping, Ianto moved towards the device. “Suppose we’d better get it back to the Hub then.”
The drone shuffled, whirred, and went ‘Meep’.
“That’s the idea. Tosh can recharge it and check it over, then we’ll program it for general maintenance duties, cleaning and repairs, and set it to work, make it earn its keep. Should cut down your workload a bit.”
“Wonderful, a robot janitor, just what I always wanted. So, the weather?”
Jack shrugged. “Is just weather. We’re having a bit of a cold snap. It happens.”
“You’re sure Cardiff hasn’t been transported to the Arctic?”
Jack laughed. “I think we’d have noticed that. Come on, let’s get our friend here loaded and head back to base.”
“With pleasure. I don’t want to be out here any longer than I have to; I’m already losing all the feeling in my feet. If I get any colder, bits are going to start falling off.”
“Can’t have that! I like all your bits right where they are.” Jack picked up the maintenance drone. “What if I promise you won’t have to leave the Hub again today?”
“While I appreciate the offer, I still have the tourist office to run, and it’s almost as cold in there as it is out here.”
“Then I’ll have Tosh find a way to get the heating turned on up there, and if she can’t, I’ll get you another heater and some sexy thermal underwear. How about that?”
“You think thermal underwear is sexy?”
“On you? Oh yeah!” Jack leered at his lover.
Ianto snorted, turning to open the SUV’s boot. “Fine, you get them, and I’ll wear them. Whatever it takes to keep warm in these Arctic temperatures.” He glanced back over his shoulder to wink at Jack. “I might even be persuaded to model them for you later.”
Grinning, Jack put the drone in the car and slammed the boot. “I’ll look forward to it.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Owen, Gwen, Jack.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The weather has unexpectedly turned bitterly cold, and none of the team are enjoying it.
Word Count: 1297
Written For: Prompt 236 - Cold Snap at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
“What’s with the weather?” Owen groused, stumbling through the outer door into the tourist office, a woollen beanie pulled down over his ears, and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. “It’s barely October and it feels like late November!” He went to pull his leather gloves off now that he was out of the wind, took one look at Ianto behind the desk, and changed his mind; Torchwood’s archivist looked like he was dressed for an Arctic trek. “Did you just get in?”
“Nope, been up here for over an hour, but the heating won’t be turned on until the fifteenth, and I prefer not to risk frostbite every time someone comes through the door.” Ianto’s voice was muffled thanks to the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face.
“Yeah, probably wise. What’re conditions like down below?”
“Better than up here. At least downstairs it’s Jack who decides when the heating goes on, not the council. I’ve got an electric heater in the back office, but it’s not making much difference because people keep opening the door and letting the cold air in.”
“People?” Owen sounded sceptical.
“Yes, Owen. This is a tourist office. Tourists come in here to get maps, brochures, and postcards to send to their friends, telling everyone they know what a great time they’re having.”
“On a day like this? It’s October, and it’s bloody freezing!”
“I know, and business has really picked up. I’ve had five groups in already today, wanting to know what there is to do around Cardiff that’s indoors. The museums must be getting a lot of business.”
Owen shook his head. “Tourists in October. What were they thinking?”
“That it’s early October on the Welsh coast and it shouldn’t be this cold?”
“You’ve got that right.” Stalking over to the false wall, Owen waited for Ianto to press the button beneath the counter. “You going to be coming downstairs anytime soon?”
“I’ll give it another half-hour up here, then put up the closed sign. Unless I get another influx of tourists in the meantime. I think the last lot might have been part of a day trip coach excursion, so there’s a chance a few more might wander in. I left a flask of coffee on everyone’s desk, if Jack hasn’t drunk it all. Figured you’d need a hot drink when you arrived.”
“Nice to see you’ve got your priorities straight.”
“I live to serve. Besides, without coffee nothing would get done around here.”
“True enough.” Owen slipped through the door, which closed behind him, and Ianto retreated behind the bead curtain, where it was marginally warmer.
He’d only been there for five minutes, warming his hands in front of the fan heater, when the bell above the door tinkled, and he stepped out to find Gwen, shoulders hunched, looking windswept and half frozen.
“What’s with the weather this morning?”
“Owen asked me exactly the same thing a few minutes ago. I didn’t have an answer for him either.” Ianto pressed the button again, the wall swinging open to admit Gwen. “I may be general support, but weather isn’t among my responsibilities.”
“I was just wonderin’ if maybe the Rift had something to do with it.”
“Not that I’m aware of. Personally, I blame climate change. It’s messing up the weather everywhere.”
“Mm, I guess so. This is a bit much though. There was frost everywhere this morning.”
“I know, Jack and I had to go out on a Rift retrieval just after five. I haven’t taken my coat off since. Pardon me for saying so, but you should probably have wrapped up better.”
Gwen smiled sheepishly, rubbing her hands together, trying to warm frozen fingers “I wasn’t expectin’ it to be so cold.”
“Better get yourself downstairs where it’s a bit warmer. I left a flask of coffee on your desk, if no one’s swiped it.”
“Thanks, sweetheart, you’re a treasure.” Gwen hurried down the corridor towards the lift as the wall swung shut again.
Ianto would have liked to follow, but a few minutes later the tourist office door swung open again, admitting half a dozen shivering tourists, and he spent the next twenty minutes sorting them out. In the end it was almost an hour before he could lock up and join the rest of the team in the main Hub. At least down there, despite the cavernous space, temperatures were tolerable.
If he was hoping to thaw out, he was destined to be disappointed. Jack came out of his office, shrugging into his greatcoat. “Ah, good, you’ve still got your coat on!”
Ianto sighed. “I suppose that means I get to go out in the cold again. Where are we going?”
“Tosh has picked up some anomalous readings coming from the Pengam Industrial Estate, near the pumping station.”
“Oh joy,” Ianto muttered, trailing disconsolately after his lover. “Right by the water, where there’s hardly anything to block the wind.”
At least he managed to warm up a bit on the drive, with the SUV’s heater going full blast, but when they arrived, they stepped out of the warmth into the teeth of an icy gale.
Thankfully, what they were looking for wasn’t hard to find. The squat, silver device was right out in the open, humming quietly to itself. Pulling his coat more tightly around him, Ianto scowled at it.
“Please tell me that’s what’s causing the weather. Maybe if we turn it off, things will warm up.”
“Sorry.” Jack spared Ianto an apologetic smile. “This little chap is just a regular maintenance drone.” He patted the silver object on its domed top. “From the looks of it, it’s probably been wandering around for a while, looking for things to fix. Now its power source is running low so it’s sending out a signal asking to be recharged.”
Shoulders slumping, Ianto moved towards the device. “Suppose we’d better get it back to the Hub then.”
The drone shuffled, whirred, and went ‘Meep’.
“That’s the idea. Tosh can recharge it and check it over, then we’ll program it for general maintenance duties, cleaning and repairs, and set it to work, make it earn its keep. Should cut down your workload a bit.”
“Wonderful, a robot janitor, just what I always wanted. So, the weather?”
Jack shrugged. “Is just weather. We’re having a bit of a cold snap. It happens.”
“You’re sure Cardiff hasn’t been transported to the Arctic?”
Jack laughed. “I think we’d have noticed that. Come on, let’s get our friend here loaded and head back to base.”
“With pleasure. I don’t want to be out here any longer than I have to; I’m already losing all the feeling in my feet. If I get any colder, bits are going to start falling off.”
“Can’t have that! I like all your bits right where they are.” Jack picked up the maintenance drone. “What if I promise you won’t have to leave the Hub again today?”
“While I appreciate the offer, I still have the tourist office to run, and it’s almost as cold in there as it is out here.”
“Then I’ll have Tosh find a way to get the heating turned on up there, and if she can’t, I’ll get you another heater and some sexy thermal underwear. How about that?”
“You think thermal underwear is sexy?”
“On you? Oh yeah!” Jack leered at his lover.
Ianto snorted, turning to open the SUV’s boot. “Fine, you get them, and I’ll wear them. Whatever it takes to keep warm in these Arctic temperatures.” He glanced back over his shoulder to wink at Jack. “I might even be persuaded to model them for you later.”
Grinning, Jack put the drone in the car and slammed the boot. “I’ll look forward to it.”
The End