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fandomweekly2025-06-29 03:04 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-06-29 03:04 pm
Entry tags:
[#264] STAYCATION (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #264 - Summer vacation
Title: Staycation
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: No vacation would be complete without a little bit of Torchwood intervention.
Gwen hadn't planned on a vacation. Torchwood wasn't good at vacations. It was barely good at making it home for tea or having the night off to tune in to Grand Designs (recorded from days ago, of course), but neither was she about to turn down the opportunity.
Jack had made the offer completely out of the blue. ‘Take a week off, Gwen,’ Jack had said. ‘You've earned it.’ She’d tried hard not to avert her gaze across the hub where Ianto was busy at the coffee machine, making the first round of the day. She wondered whether he'd been given a week off as well, already knowing that the answer had to be no. They couldn't just all suddenly take a vacation leaving Jack in charge on his own.
Then again, perhaps the offer for Gwen to have a break had ulterior motives. She knew exactly the kinds of things the pair of them got up to when she wasn't around, which spoke more to the fact that she knew far too much about their recreational aspirations than was healthy. That didn’t stop her feeling a slight pang of guilt. She was sure that Ianto's idea of a vacation was not a week of playing naked hide and seek around the hub. He struck her as more of the wandering dusty old museums in Prague sort.
Gwen took the offer in the spirit it was intended. A week off for months of long hours, sleepless nights and more alien gunk washed out of her hair than she could ever remember. Whilst she might have liked a week basking in the Portuguese sun, Rhys wasn't able to get the same time off work. He snatched three days and that was as much as he could bargain for. ‘Plus,’ he'd said, ‘God knows what Ruth and Large Mandy would get up to if they were left unsupervised for more than three days. They'd panic the moment the tea room ran out of biscuits.’ Still, three days off together was better than nothing.
When Rhys asked “What are we going to do today?” Gwen hadn't hesitated. A trip down to Barry Island, ride the dodgems, eat candy floss, and pretend she was a rubbish shot as she lined up her fake fun against the travelling metal ducks, winning Rhys the biggest teddy bear they had as first prize. Summer holidays were made for fun parks.
‘It's bloody bucketing down, Gwen,’ Rhys complained as they pulled the car into the parking lot, having gotten heavier and heavier the closer they got.
Gwen tried to assure him that it wouldn't last and that it was just a bit of rain sweeping through.
Rhys peered through the windscreen, in between swishes of the wipers. ‘Ah, it's bloody closed,’ he announced, making out the sign on the chain link fence. ‘No surprise there. Roller-coaster in the rain?’ Guh. ‘So much for summer.’
Then the rain eased, just like Gwen had said.
‘C'mon,’ she said, pushing open the car door.
‘What for? It's closed. No point.’
‘We can still go for a wander down the beach,’ she said. No sense having come all this way to just turn around and go back home. ‘We'll probably have it all to ourselves.’ Then a nice cup of tea from the food truck and head home for some more time to themselves. Perhaps a bit more practising for that baby they still talked about having.
Rhys gave a long suffering sigh. ‘Aye, I suppose so. Nothing says Welsh summer like a walk down a damp beach, eh?’
She grinned, looping her arm through his. ‘I'll even vacuum the car after,’ she promised.
Rhys snorted loudly. ‘I'll believe that when I see it,’ he replied, smiling as he said it, letting her lead him towards the shore.
They walked for a while chatting about everything and nothing. It felt like ages since they'd spent time together like this. Then a mile up the beach it began to drizzle and then the drizzle became more rain, forcing them to turn back and concede defeat.
As they power-walked back to the car, Gwen noticed one other car parked next to theirs in the otherwise empty lot. It was big, black and unmistakably recognisable.
‘Oh you are kidding me,’ Rhys moaned. ‘Is this some kind of stitch up, Gwen?’
‘Nothing to do with me,’ she promised.
Jack was standing there at the top of the beach, greatcoat flapping in the sea breeze, hair slowly becoming soaked and sinking towards his scalp. Ianto stood nearby, completely dry under a large black umbrella.
‘Fancy meeting you here!’ Jack called out, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Just couldn't stay away, huh?’
‘Bloody Torchwood,’ Gwen heard Rhys mutter under his breath.
‘What's going on?’
‘Nothing major, just a few thousand cephalopods about to wash up on shore.’
‘Alien?’ Rhys cried.
‘Nah. Just a bit sensitive to the frequency of a Class H Star Cruiser passing close to our upper atmosphere.’
‘I suggested calamari,’ Ianto piped up, coming to bring his umbrella closer to Gwen, though still far enough away that Gwen wouldn't drip on him. ‘But Jack hates it apparently.’
Jack pulled a face as if he could taste it. ‘Anyway, nothing we can't fix. Ianto? Would you do the honours?’
He beamed, pulling out a square object from his overcoat. ‘The In-squiderator 9000.’
‘You're going to kill them?’ Rhys asked, looking horrified.
‘Don't be ridiculous,’ Jack said. ‘What do you take us for?’
‘It's called the In-squiderator 9000,’ Ianto chimed in, ‘because that’s how many metres it will project a dampening signal, cancelling out the one driving them all towards shore.’ He clicked a button. ‘There, all done.’
And then, as if by happenstance, the rain stopped completely and the sun broke through the clouds, shimmering on the water's surface as if there'd never been a drop of rain at all.
‘Would you look at that?’ Jack remarked. ‘A perfect summer's day after all. Who's for ice-cream?’
Title: Staycation
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: No vacation would be complete without a little bit of Torchwood intervention.
Gwen hadn't planned on a vacation. Torchwood wasn't good at vacations. It was barely good at making it home for tea or having the night off to tune in to Grand Designs (recorded from days ago, of course), but neither was she about to turn down the opportunity.
Jack had made the offer completely out of the blue. ‘Take a week off, Gwen,’ Jack had said. ‘You've earned it.’ She’d tried hard not to avert her gaze across the hub where Ianto was busy at the coffee machine, making the first round of the day. She wondered whether he'd been given a week off as well, already knowing that the answer had to be no. They couldn't just all suddenly take a vacation leaving Jack in charge on his own.
Then again, perhaps the offer for Gwen to have a break had ulterior motives. She knew exactly the kinds of things the pair of them got up to when she wasn't around, which spoke more to the fact that she knew far too much about their recreational aspirations than was healthy. That didn’t stop her feeling a slight pang of guilt. She was sure that Ianto's idea of a vacation was not a week of playing naked hide and seek around the hub. He struck her as more of the wandering dusty old museums in Prague sort.
Gwen took the offer in the spirit it was intended. A week off for months of long hours, sleepless nights and more alien gunk washed out of her hair than she could ever remember. Whilst she might have liked a week basking in the Portuguese sun, Rhys wasn't able to get the same time off work. He snatched three days and that was as much as he could bargain for. ‘Plus,’ he'd said, ‘God knows what Ruth and Large Mandy would get up to if they were left unsupervised for more than three days. They'd panic the moment the tea room ran out of biscuits.’ Still, three days off together was better than nothing.
When Rhys asked “What are we going to do today?” Gwen hadn't hesitated. A trip down to Barry Island, ride the dodgems, eat candy floss, and pretend she was a rubbish shot as she lined up her fake fun against the travelling metal ducks, winning Rhys the biggest teddy bear they had as first prize. Summer holidays were made for fun parks.
‘It's bloody bucketing down, Gwen,’ Rhys complained as they pulled the car into the parking lot, having gotten heavier and heavier the closer they got.
Gwen tried to assure him that it wouldn't last and that it was just a bit of rain sweeping through.
Rhys peered through the windscreen, in between swishes of the wipers. ‘Ah, it's bloody closed,’ he announced, making out the sign on the chain link fence. ‘No surprise there. Roller-coaster in the rain?’ Guh. ‘So much for summer.’
Then the rain eased, just like Gwen had said.
‘C'mon,’ she said, pushing open the car door.
‘What for? It's closed. No point.’
‘We can still go for a wander down the beach,’ she said. No sense having come all this way to just turn around and go back home. ‘We'll probably have it all to ourselves.’ Then a nice cup of tea from the food truck and head home for some more time to themselves. Perhaps a bit more practising for that baby they still talked about having.
Rhys gave a long suffering sigh. ‘Aye, I suppose so. Nothing says Welsh summer like a walk down a damp beach, eh?’
She grinned, looping her arm through his. ‘I'll even vacuum the car after,’ she promised.
Rhys snorted loudly. ‘I'll believe that when I see it,’ he replied, smiling as he said it, letting her lead him towards the shore.
They walked for a while chatting about everything and nothing. It felt like ages since they'd spent time together like this. Then a mile up the beach it began to drizzle and then the drizzle became more rain, forcing them to turn back and concede defeat.
As they power-walked back to the car, Gwen noticed one other car parked next to theirs in the otherwise empty lot. It was big, black and unmistakably recognisable.
‘Oh you are kidding me,’ Rhys moaned. ‘Is this some kind of stitch up, Gwen?’
‘Nothing to do with me,’ she promised.
Jack was standing there at the top of the beach, greatcoat flapping in the sea breeze, hair slowly becoming soaked and sinking towards his scalp. Ianto stood nearby, completely dry under a large black umbrella.
‘Fancy meeting you here!’ Jack called out, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Just couldn't stay away, huh?’
‘Bloody Torchwood,’ Gwen heard Rhys mutter under his breath.
‘What's going on?’
‘Nothing major, just a few thousand cephalopods about to wash up on shore.’
‘Alien?’ Rhys cried.
‘Nah. Just a bit sensitive to the frequency of a Class H Star Cruiser passing close to our upper atmosphere.’
‘I suggested calamari,’ Ianto piped up, coming to bring his umbrella closer to Gwen, though still far enough away that Gwen wouldn't drip on him. ‘But Jack hates it apparently.’
Jack pulled a face as if he could taste it. ‘Anyway, nothing we can't fix. Ianto? Would you do the honours?’
He beamed, pulling out a square object from his overcoat. ‘The In-squiderator 9000.’
‘You're going to kill them?’ Rhys asked, looking horrified.
‘Don't be ridiculous,’ Jack said. ‘What do you take us for?’
‘It's called the In-squiderator 9000,’ Ianto chimed in, ‘because that’s how many metres it will project a dampening signal, cancelling out the one driving them all towards shore.’ He clicked a button. ‘There, all done.’
And then, as if by happenstance, the rain stopped completely and the sun broke through the clouds, shimmering on the water's surface as if there'd never been a drop of rain at all.
‘Would you look at that?’ Jack remarked. ‘A perfect summer's day after all. Who's for ice-cream?’