Ficlet: Special Friend

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Special Friend
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Nosy, Ianto.
Rating: G
Word Count: 844
Summary: Nosy has had its stuffed sheep longer than almost all of its other toys, but now it’s in a sorry state. Is there anything Ianto can do?
Spoilers: None.
Written For: templefugate’s prompt ‘Any, any, a well-loved stuffed animal’ at comment_fic.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
 
 


Nosy the Fluff studied its long-time friend sadly; there was no ignoring the fact that Shaun was showing his years. The once creamy-white fleece was now patchy and greyish, one ear was barely attached, Shaun’s legs had gone limp and floppy from stuffing loss, and his black nose was almost worn away entirely.
 

With a sympathetic hum, Nosy wrapped its long, fluffy coils gently around the stuffed sheep, cradling the worn stuffed toy tenderly and nuzzling the patchy fur fabric. It had lots of other stuffed toys, but along with Fred the bear and Sid the snake, Shaun had been among its first playthings and, although Nosy was ashamed to admit it, had always been the Fluff’s favourite, a reminder of the real sheep it had lived amongst when it had first been snatched from its homeworld and stranded on earth.

 
Fred and Sid were looking a little battered too, after almost eighteen years that was only to be expected, but Shaun had been loved so much he was barely holding together, and it hurt Nosy deep inside to know that someday in the near future its loyal and trusted old friend would fall apart completely.

 
What would Nosy do then? It could tell all of its secrets to its other stuffed toys, but somehow that wouldn’t be the same. Shaun had been there since Nosy’s second night in the Hub, sharing Nosy’s bunk and keeping watch over the Fluff by night, back when Nosy had still found the darkness in Torchwood’s underground base a bit daunting. It wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore, and didn’t really need Shaun the way it had, especially now it was living the high life in Ianto and Jack’s flat. From there it could look out of its bedroom window at night and see the moon and stars above, the city lights twinkling reassuringly below; the flat was never completely dark. Still…

 
Carefully Nosy picked Shaun up in its mouth and carried him out to the living room, where Ianto was sitting on the sofa. The older children were all at school, and the youngest, Rhosyn, was napping on her play mat, Daisy the Flufflet snoozing beside her, Rosie’s small hand gripping its fur.
 

Ianto looked up from his book at Nosy’s approach. “What have you got there, young Fluff?”
 

Nosy hummed dolefully and set its friend on Ianto’s lap.
 

“Ah, it’s Shaun. Looking a little worse for wear, isn’t he?”
 

“hum,” Nosy agreed in a small, sad voice. It nuzzled the stuffed sheep gently.
 

Ianto stroked one hand through Nosy’s thick fluff. “He’s been very well loved over the years,” he observed.

 
Big, green eyes blinked up at him. “Hum?” Nosy asked hopefully. Ianto always seemed able to fix Jack’s coat every time he ripped it, so maybe there might be something he could do for Shaun…
 

“Well, I don’t know, he’s pretty badly worn.” Ianto picked up the tattered toy sheep and examined it. “No promises, but I’ll see what I can do.” Getting up, he carried Shaun over to the table, put the sheep down, and fetched pencil and paper, making notes and drawing outlines. “Leave him with me for a few days.”

 
Nosy hummed agreement, it trusted Ianto completely, but it reached up to give the sheep a farewell nuzzle before leaving its treasured possession in its human friend’s care. The next few days without Shaun were going to be tough.
 

Ianto knew he couldn’t simply replace Shaun with a newer version. Even if he could somehow get hold of an identical stuffed sheep, which was unlikely after so long, Nosy would know the difference. So the following day, he went out and bought fabric that was as much like Shaun’s original fleece and body as possible. He worked late in the evenings, when the kids were in bed, sitting in the small room that he used as a home office and sewing room, stitching away first with his sewing machine and then by hand, creating a Shaun suit to fit over the original sheep, leaving only the head sticking out. Fresh stuffing filled out Shaun’s sagging legs before they were inserted into the new legs. A new ear was made to replace the damaged one, and a new wool nose was carefully embroidered where the old one had worn away.

 
Shaun didn’t look exactly the same as he had when new, but he was still Shaun, and Nosy’s delight in getting its friend back made all Ianto’s hard work worthwhile. The Fluff’s eyes lit up when he handed it the sheep.
 

“HUMMMMMMMM!” Nosy wrapped its coils around Shaun, giving the sheep a gentle squeeze, then it picked the stuffed toy up in its mouth and carried him to its room, setting Shaun the sheep reverently between Fred and Sid, where the twins and Rhosyn wouldn’t be able to reach him.

 
Nosy knew it would need to be extra careful with Shaun from now on, but that was okay because now it would have its special friend’s company for many more years to come.
 

 
The End
 




 
 

Comments

[mxcatmoon]

Aww, that brought a tear to my eye. I'm glad Ianto was able to fix Shaun.

[badly_knitted]

Nosy gets very sentimental over its friends *squishes Nosy*

Ianto is thankfully very good at fixing things.

Thank you!