Fic: Nosy's First Winter

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Nosy's First Winter
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto, Jack.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Nosy discovers a new thing about the world it lives in now, but it’s less fun than it looks.
Word Count: 1319
Written For: Prompt 079 – First Snow at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
 
 


Nosy very much liked the place it now lived with Jack and Ianto. The flat was spacious and very comfy, it had its own bedroom and bathroom, a big jungle gym had been built downstairs where it could play and have fun while getting much needed exercise, and there was even a roof garden so it could breathe fresh air and enjoy the sunshine on warm, dry days. Best of all, it didn’t even need to ask to be let out or back in again because back in the summer its human friends had thoughtfully installed a special Fluff door, activated by a tiny chip embedded in Nosy’s body so that it could let itself in and out whenever it chose.

 
Of course, Nosy was a sensible Fluff, and only ever went outside in good weather, because Fluffs weren’t waterproof. If it went out on rainy days it got all soggy, its fur got really heavy, and it took forever to dry out, even with its friends using lots of towels and a hair dryer. The warm air blown from the dryer felt rather nice, but being soggy wasn’t at all pleasant so it was best avoided.
 

Every day Nosy accompanied Jack and Ianto to the Hub, helping out wherever it could, fetching things for its friends and doing some light cleaning, as well as offering comfort and sympathy whenever anyone was having a bad day. Nosy was quite sure no other Fluff could possibly have such an interesting and rewarding life. It had learned so many amazing things in the few months it had been on earth, and it was learning more every day.

 
Today, however, wasn’t a workday; everyone at Torchwood got one day off a week and today it was Jack, Ianto, and Nosy’s turn. Owen and Tosh were in charge of things at the Hub and wouldn’t call unless there was an emergency.

 
As they did every time they had a day off, Ianto and Jack were sleeping late. Although Jack was immortal and didn’t need as much sleep as most humans, Ianto was still a regular human and needed plenty of rest, so Jack, not wanting to disturb his lover, usually remained snuggled up with him until Ianto was ready to face the day. Nosy thought that was very kind of him.
 

On days off, Nosy got up whenever it wanted. Sometimes it would have a lie-in like its human friends, but today, when it had woken up and looked out the window of its bedroom from its top bunk, it had seen something very odd happening. Thousands of fluffy white feathers were falling from the sky, floating down gently to cover the world with a soft, white blanket.
 

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ the Fluff thought. ‘I wonder what it is.’

 
Excited by this new thing and wanting to investigate, it quickly slithered out of bed.
 

Back on the planet it came from, the weather was generally fairly mild. There were hot and cold seasons, but the differences in temperature weren’t extreme and anyway, Fluffs were very well insulated, so they stayed comfortable even on the chilliest days. Sometimes it would rain, but never as heavily as it did here on earth, and to keep dry, Fluffs would take shelter beneath the huge spreading leaves of various local plants, or in caves, under trees, or up among the branches, away from the wetness.

 
Earth weather had come as a big surprise; the planet, or this part of it at least, was nowhere near as temperate as the Fluff home-world, with far more rain, very strong winds at times, hotter weather in the summer and, as it was now discovering, considerably colder weather at this time of year. Fluffs, however, were nothing if not adaptable, and to cope with the dropping temperature as winter settled over its new home, Nosy had simply grown more and thicker fur, a denser than usual undercoat insulating its body, so it remained perfectly cosy. The cold didn’t bother it at all, and it wondered if perhaps sometime in the past the Fluff world might have been much colder than it had been when Nosy was living there.

 
Although the flat was kept at a comfortable temperature, Nosy could feel the cold through the glass as it approached the French doors, which led out onto the decking Jack and Ianto had built. That was where they’d all sunned themselves during the summer, but now the varnished hardwood boards were no longer there, or at least they weren’t visible, buried beneath several inches of the fluffy white feathers. Nosy goggled at the thick white stuff in amazement, turning its gaze from where the decking should be to the raised flower beds, the paths, the artificial lawn… All of it was hidden from sight, with only strange mounds beneath the white blanket to show that anything was there at all. How curious!
 

What was the white stuff, and where was it all coming from? Was a big, strange bird sitting on the roof shedding its feathers, or was this some other kind of phenomenon unique to this planet? Another thought crossed the Fluff’s mind: maybe it was something to do with the Rift, or aliens. Nosy debated whether it should wake Jack and Ianto, and alert them to the strange occurrence. It was still quite early, and Ianto had been very tired the previous night, so the friendly alien decided maybe it should check the white stuff out before disturbing its friends. Fluffs were very resilient creatures, there wasn’t a lot that could cause one serious harm, so whatever this stuff was it would likely be less damaging to Nosy than to Ianto. Humans could be quite fragile.
 

Slithering to the Fluff door set in the wall to one side of the French doors, Nosy pushed it open with its snout, immediately aware of how much colder it was outside compared to indoors, and it fluffed up its fur for better insulation before pushing on through, slithering as fast as it could so as not to let too much cold air into the flat. The door closed behind it and then Nosy was out in a world of swirling whiteness!

 
The stuff was wonderful, amazing, extraordinary, and very cold. Nosy sampled a little, sticking its tongue out, discovering it was as cold as ice cream but sadly tasteless. Slithering further, it pushed its snout through the white carpet, breathing on it, then drew back suddenly as it realised the stuff was dissolving. That was when Nosy realised its underside wasn’t merely chilly but was becoming distinctly wet. Abandoning its explorations, it hurriedly slithered back through its door, where it lay on the floorboards in a spreading pool of water. So much for that!
 

“Oh dear.” That was Ianto’s voice, and Nosy looked up to see its friend coming down the stairs from the upper level, where the master bedroom was. “I wasn’t expecting it to snow so early in the winter, but I probably should have warned you about it.”
 

“Humm,” Nosy agreed. It would have been good to know in advance what to expect from a Welsh winter.
 

“I’d better fetch some towels and dry you off. Stay put.”

 
“Hum.” Nosy knew better than to slither around making the floor wet and slippery.
 

Ianto was soon back with towels, the hairdryer, and Jack. The two humans mopped up the water from around the Fluff, then rolled Nosy on to its back to get at its underside, vigorously rubbing the shorter fur there to get out the worst of the wetness before turning the dryer on.
 

As Nosy lay there basking in the warmth and attention, Ianto spoke again.
 

“I think from now on you’d better just watch the snow from indoors, don’t you?”

 
“HUM!” Snow was interesting to look at, but it was much too wet for comfort.

 
 
The End