Ficlet: Dinner Is… Different
Mar. 17th, 2025 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Dinner Is… Different
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 657
Spoilers: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
Summary: Out in space, far from earth, the dinner menu is somewhat different from what Ianto is accustomed to.
Written For:
ravenlilyrose’s prompt: any, any, not-mac and not-cheese, at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
threesentenceficathon.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Ianto sniffed the air, his stomach rumbling and his mouth starting to water at the tantalising aroma filling the air in the Happy Wanderer’s galley. “You’re cooking from scratch?” he asked his lover, surprised. He knew Jack could cook, he just hadn’t expected him to go to so much effort while they were out in space. So far, when aboard the Wanderer, they’d mostly shoved frozen meals in the futuristic version of a microwave, or eaten sandwiches, toast, cereal, sometimes fresh fruit, things that were quick and easy to prepare. “What’re you making?”
“It’s nothing fancy,” Jack replied. “Just mac ‘n’ cheese, except it’s not exactly macaroni, and it’s cheese-ish, something similar but non-dairy. No cows in space, not for a few hundred years yet, so…” he shrugged, “alien equivalents, more or less, but they’re totally safe for human consumption. It won’t taste quite the same as you’re used to, but I think you’ll like it.”
After three months of travelling through space with Jack aboard their cargo ship, they’d eaten more than half of the food supplies they’d brought with them from earth, but Jack had assured Ianto it wouldn’t be a problem. There were plenty of places they could re-supply, stores and markets on space stations and other planets, the food just wouldn’t be the same as Ianto had been used to eating back home, because every planet had its own grain crops, its own fruits and vegetables, seeds and pulses, herbs and spices, meat, fish, and baked goods. Not all of it would be safe for human consumption of course, but Jack had been around long enough to know what he and Ianto could eat, and what suited human tastes. Just because something was edible didn’t necessarily mean it would taste good.
“Well, it smells amazing, but more meaty than cheesy, not that I’m complaining.” Ianto peered through the clear glass of the oven door. “Uh, it’s… blue?” It was indeed the rich blue of a summer sky back on earth.
“Yes, like I said, not exactly mac ‘n’ cheese, just the closest I could get using non-earth ingredients, but it cooks up the same way. Is the colour going to bother you?”
Ianto thought about it, sniffed the air again, and his stomach made approving noises, eager to be fed, whatever outlandish colour dinner happened to be. “No, I don’t think so, I always thought mac ‘n’ cheese looked a bit bland colour-wise, sort of boring. I’m sure I’ll get used to things being a bit different out here, and I can always close my eyes if I find something too… disconcerting.”
“Good. Should be about done, and the table’s already set. I’ll bring the not-mac ‘n’ cheese, you bring the not quite bread.” Jack pointed at a plate laden with circular, vivid yellow slices.
“Not-bread, just bread-like. Right.” Ianto picked up the plate. “You know, I may need to wear sunglasses at dinner if alien food is always this bright.”
Jack laughed. “It isn’t always, some places most of the food is beige, or greyish, and a lot less appetising to look at, even if it tastes good.”
“Then I suppose I should thank you for choosing a more visually attractive menu.” Ianto set the plate of not-bread on the table and settled into one of the chairs as Jack dished up the bright blue main course. It did smell delicious, no matter how strange it looked, and when he took a bite, he found it tasted good too, a bit cheesy, a bit meaty, a bit something he couldn’t quite define, but nevertheless very enjoyable.
They would, Ianto was sure, be able to return to earth now and then and restock the Wanderer with more familiar earth foods, but from now on, most of what he ate would be the produce of other planets, unfamiliar tastes and textures, a gastronomic voyage of discovery. He found he was looking forward to it.
The End
“It’s nothing fancy,” Jack replied. “Just mac ‘n’ cheese, except it’s not exactly macaroni, and it’s cheese-ish, something similar but non-dairy. No cows in space, not for a few hundred years yet, so…” he shrugged, “alien equivalents, more or less, but they’re totally safe for human consumption. It won’t taste quite the same as you’re used to, but I think you’ll like it.”
After three months of travelling through space with Jack aboard their cargo ship, they’d eaten more than half of the food supplies they’d brought with them from earth, but Jack had assured Ianto it wouldn’t be a problem. There were plenty of places they could re-supply, stores and markets on space stations and other planets, the food just wouldn’t be the same as Ianto had been used to eating back home, because every planet had its own grain crops, its own fruits and vegetables, seeds and pulses, herbs and spices, meat, fish, and baked goods. Not all of it would be safe for human consumption of course, but Jack had been around long enough to know what he and Ianto could eat, and what suited human tastes. Just because something was edible didn’t necessarily mean it would taste good.
“Well, it smells amazing, but more meaty than cheesy, not that I’m complaining.” Ianto peered through the clear glass of the oven door. “Uh, it’s… blue?” It was indeed the rich blue of a summer sky back on earth.
“Yes, like I said, not exactly mac ‘n’ cheese, just the closest I could get using non-earth ingredients, but it cooks up the same way. Is the colour going to bother you?”
Ianto thought about it, sniffed the air again, and his stomach made approving noises, eager to be fed, whatever outlandish colour dinner happened to be. “No, I don’t think so, I always thought mac ‘n’ cheese looked a bit bland colour-wise, sort of boring. I’m sure I’ll get used to things being a bit different out here, and I can always close my eyes if I find something too… disconcerting.”
“Good. Should be about done, and the table’s already set. I’ll bring the not-mac ‘n’ cheese, you bring the not quite bread.” Jack pointed at a plate laden with circular, vivid yellow slices.
“Not-bread, just bread-like. Right.” Ianto picked up the plate. “You know, I may need to wear sunglasses at dinner if alien food is always this bright.”
Jack laughed. “It isn’t always, some places most of the food is beige, or greyish, and a lot less appetising to look at, even if it tastes good.”
“Then I suppose I should thank you for choosing a more visually attractive menu.” Ianto set the plate of not-bread on the table and settled into one of the chairs as Jack dished up the bright blue main course. It did smell delicious, no matter how strange it looked, and when he took a bite, he found it tasted good too, a bit cheesy, a bit meaty, a bit something he couldn’t quite define, but nevertheless very enjoyable.
They would, Ianto was sure, be able to return to earth now and then and restock the Wanderer with more familiar earth foods, but from now on, most of what he ate would be the produce of other planets, unfamiliar tastes and textures, a gastronomic voyage of discovery. He found he was looking forward to it.
The End
