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fandomweekly2025-11-03 11:15 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-11-03 11:15 am
Entry tags:
[#280] HAIR-RAISING (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #280 - Trick or treat
Title: Hair-raising
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack’s plans for the evening come to an unexpected end.
‘Where do you think you're going?’ Ianto asked, seeing Jack making his way from his office. If he wasn't mistaken, Jack had a huge pile of overdue reports that needed signing off, which had been sitting there for at least the last two weeks. No matter how much Ianto nagged about them, they still never managed to get done. There always seemed to be another crisis or end of the world matter that needed Jack's full attention.
‘I'm going to get dressed,’ Jack replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ianto narrowed his eyes and gave Jack an up and down look. ‘But you are dressed.’ Unless of course he’d missed the memo about today being “Opposite Day” and everything he said needed to be the opposite of what he just said, which was already beginning to confuse him. He really hoped it wasn't Opposite Day.
‘Well, yes, technically I am dressed. Thank you for noticing,’ Jack said. ‘But I was actually referring to my dress for this evening. He said it with an upward inflection like a question without a question mark requiring Ianto to somehow fill in the blanks.
‘Tonight being?’
‘For the love of all things, Ianto,’ Jack said, sighing theatrically. ‘I thought you knew everything about everything.’
‘I do,’ Ianto replied, taking offence at the suggestion that he didn't.
‘Well, then you'll know that tonight happens to be Halloween, and that getting dressed means going and getting my costume ready.’
Ianto rolled his eyes. ‘Don't you think you're a little bit old to be trick or treating?’ Not only was he a little bit too old, he was in fact the oldest person in Cardiff, and that definitely made him far too old for trick or treating.
‘You're never too old for trick or treating.’
Ianto gave a sigh. ‘You want to wander the streets filled with ghoulies and monsters. Don't we get enough of that every other day?’ Might it not be nice for them to just have one alien and monster free day? Every day at Torchwood felt like Halloween, but without all of the free candy and frivolity.
“It's not the same and you know it,’ Jack replied. ‘Don't be such a stick in the mud. I assume that's not your costume,’ Jack said, giving Ianto a similar up and down look. ‘Unless of course you were going for boring office worker.’
‘I take offence to that.’ At the very least Jack might have passed him off as Bruce Wayne or James Bond. Office worker? That was a hurtful new low.
‘So move your butt out of that chair and come with me,’ Jack said.
‘And where are we going?’
‘To the costume cave, Robin,’ Jack replied with a wink, grabbing Ianto’s hand and dragging him whether he wanted to come or not.
Jack led him down into the depths of the hub, along corridors that Ianto barely visited. Down here was nothing but neglected storerooms, either empty or full of forgotten rubbish. Jack stopped at an inconspicuous door set into the narrow corridor wall and then swiped his access card on the panel as it flashed from red to green.
‘Please tell me you haven’t got your Shirley Bassey collection hidden down here,’ Ianto said, fearful of what might lie behind the door.
‘Don't be silly. She's just one part of the collection.’
‘Collection?’ It was already too late to remove the mental images of Jack in a sequinned gown, fake boobs, wig and outrageous makeup.
‘I'm sure we'll find something for you,’ Jack said, already pawing through the fabrics and feathers contained within.
Before Ianto could make comment, something orange flitted past and escaped down the hallway. ‘What the hell was that?’
Jack opened his mouth to reply but all that came out was an almighty sneeze. AHCOO!
Well, that answered that question, Ianto thought. He stuck his head out into the corridor and caught the final glimpses of a four-legged marmalade animal with its big fluffy tail. How did it get in here? The door was swipe-card access only. It couldn't have been here long or it would have starved to death.
Jack was in the middle of a fit of sneezes – up to number six or seven. There was one thing Jack was desperately allergic to – cats. Clearly it had been sleeping amongst the bundles of costumes.‘Goddamn cats!’ Jack finally managed to swear. ‘I thought you got rid of all the cats in the hub,’ he said, throwing an accusatory glare in Ianto’s direction.
‘I didn't realise we had a significant infestation.’ They’d had one cat in the last twelve months and it wasn't the same one because it had been scrawny and grey, feeding on rats that lived in the archives. Ianto had eventually captured it, taking it to the local animal shelter. Ianto didn't mind cats, but Jack was so damn allergic that having a cat was completely out of the question.
The marmalade creature had already dashed off and disappeared. ‘Bollocks,’ Ianto muttered. Jack wouldn’t let him sleep until he found the wretched creature and removed it from the hub. Ianto turned back to Jack who was wiping his nose on his sleeve, eyes red and puffy already. ‘I don't think you'll be trick or treating tonight,’ he remarked. ‘Every last piece of clothing in this room is covered in cat hair. The only thing you'll be going as is the monster that sneezes and scares off small children.’
‘Bloody hate cats,’ Jack moaned, sniffing his running nose. ‘They ruin everything.’
Ianto could hear the disappointment in Jack’s voice. He really had been serious about going trick or treating, hadn’t he? ‘I suppose you could always go as a World War Two British RAF pilot, couldn't you?’
‘That's no fun,’ Jack replied
‘Well, we can try to force you into Gwen’s skinny jeans and leather jacket, though God knows who you'd be going as then. Biker chick?’
‘Very funny,’ Jack mumbled.
Title: Hair-raising
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack’s plans for the evening come to an unexpected end.
‘Where do you think you're going?’ Ianto asked, seeing Jack making his way from his office. If he wasn't mistaken, Jack had a huge pile of overdue reports that needed signing off, which had been sitting there for at least the last two weeks. No matter how much Ianto nagged about them, they still never managed to get done. There always seemed to be another crisis or end of the world matter that needed Jack's full attention.
‘I'm going to get dressed,’ Jack replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ianto narrowed his eyes and gave Jack an up and down look. ‘But you are dressed.’ Unless of course he’d missed the memo about today being “Opposite Day” and everything he said needed to be the opposite of what he just said, which was already beginning to confuse him. He really hoped it wasn't Opposite Day.
‘Well, yes, technically I am dressed. Thank you for noticing,’ Jack said. ‘But I was actually referring to my dress for this evening. He said it with an upward inflection like a question without a question mark requiring Ianto to somehow fill in the blanks.
‘Tonight being?’
‘For the love of all things, Ianto,’ Jack said, sighing theatrically. ‘I thought you knew everything about everything.’
‘I do,’ Ianto replied, taking offence at the suggestion that he didn't.
‘Well, then you'll know that tonight happens to be Halloween, and that getting dressed means going and getting my costume ready.’
Ianto rolled his eyes. ‘Don't you think you're a little bit old to be trick or treating?’ Not only was he a little bit too old, he was in fact the oldest person in Cardiff, and that definitely made him far too old for trick or treating.
‘You're never too old for trick or treating.’
Ianto gave a sigh. ‘You want to wander the streets filled with ghoulies and monsters. Don't we get enough of that every other day?’ Might it not be nice for them to just have one alien and monster free day? Every day at Torchwood felt like Halloween, but without all of the free candy and frivolity.
“It's not the same and you know it,’ Jack replied. ‘Don't be such a stick in the mud. I assume that's not your costume,’ Jack said, giving Ianto a similar up and down look. ‘Unless of course you were going for boring office worker.’
‘I take offence to that.’ At the very least Jack might have passed him off as Bruce Wayne or James Bond. Office worker? That was a hurtful new low.
‘So move your butt out of that chair and come with me,’ Jack said.
‘And where are we going?’
‘To the costume cave, Robin,’ Jack replied with a wink, grabbing Ianto’s hand and dragging him whether he wanted to come or not.
Jack led him down into the depths of the hub, along corridors that Ianto barely visited. Down here was nothing but neglected storerooms, either empty or full of forgotten rubbish. Jack stopped at an inconspicuous door set into the narrow corridor wall and then swiped his access card on the panel as it flashed from red to green.
‘Please tell me you haven’t got your Shirley Bassey collection hidden down here,’ Ianto said, fearful of what might lie behind the door.
‘Don't be silly. She's just one part of the collection.’
‘Collection?’ It was already too late to remove the mental images of Jack in a sequinned gown, fake boobs, wig and outrageous makeup.
‘I'm sure we'll find something for you,’ Jack said, already pawing through the fabrics and feathers contained within.
Before Ianto could make comment, something orange flitted past and escaped down the hallway. ‘What the hell was that?’
Jack opened his mouth to reply but all that came out was an almighty sneeze. AHCOO!
Well, that answered that question, Ianto thought. He stuck his head out into the corridor and caught the final glimpses of a four-legged marmalade animal with its big fluffy tail. How did it get in here? The door was swipe-card access only. It couldn't have been here long or it would have starved to death.
Jack was in the middle of a fit of sneezes – up to number six or seven. There was one thing Jack was desperately allergic to – cats. Clearly it had been sleeping amongst the bundles of costumes.‘Goddamn cats!’ Jack finally managed to swear. ‘I thought you got rid of all the cats in the hub,’ he said, throwing an accusatory glare in Ianto’s direction.
‘I didn't realise we had a significant infestation.’ They’d had one cat in the last twelve months and it wasn't the same one because it had been scrawny and grey, feeding on rats that lived in the archives. Ianto had eventually captured it, taking it to the local animal shelter. Ianto didn't mind cats, but Jack was so damn allergic that having a cat was completely out of the question.
The marmalade creature had already dashed off and disappeared. ‘Bollocks,’ Ianto muttered. Jack wouldn’t let him sleep until he found the wretched creature and removed it from the hub. Ianto turned back to Jack who was wiping his nose on his sleeve, eyes red and puffy already. ‘I don't think you'll be trick or treating tonight,’ he remarked. ‘Every last piece of clothing in this room is covered in cat hair. The only thing you'll be going as is the monster that sneezes and scares off small children.’
‘Bloody hate cats,’ Jack moaned, sniffing his running nose. ‘They ruin everything.’
Ianto could hear the disappointment in Jack’s voice. He really had been serious about going trick or treating, hadn’t he? ‘I suppose you could always go as a World War Two British RAF pilot, couldn't you?’
‘That's no fun,’ Jack replied
‘Well, we can try to force you into Gwen’s skinny jeans and leather jacket, though God knows who you'd be going as then. Biker chick?’
‘Very funny,’ Jack mumbled.
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