Triple Drabble: Crispy Critter
Jan. 3rd, 2026 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Crispy Critter
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Herman, Ianto, Jack, Team.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 898: Burn, at
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torchwood100.Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Herman saves the day.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Triple drabble.
As dragons went, Ianto had never considered Herman particularly dangerous around the Hub. He was a steady chap, liked his hoard of sparkly things, would remain in his nest of old blankets for hours at a time, watching the team go about their business, and sometimes followed Ianto as he went about his duties.
Herman also liked walkies with Jack, plenty of tea, and being regularly oiled to keep him in peak condition, but other than that, he was quiet, undemanding, housebroken, and while he did, on occasion, emit small puffs of smoke, he clearly wasn’t the flammable sort of dragon. He was probably less of a fire risk than the Hub’s incinerator.
The dragon had settled into Hub life surprisingly well, and in the seven months or so he’d been with the team had caused very few problems. Everyone was used to him by now, he was part of the furniture, until one day, a particularly nasty and venomous alien creature got loose in the Hub, killed Jack, then went after the other team members.
Everyone scrambled out of the way, racing for workstations, bags, the armoury, going after weapons they generally didn’t carry when they were in the safety of their own base. Ianto ran for Jack, intending to drag him to safety while the others dealt with the creature, but the alien turned out to be far faster, and more manoeuvrable than he’d thought. Turning, it went straight for him.
Before anyone could do anything to help, Herman bounded between Ianto and the alien, and let loose a blast of searing flame, burning it to a crisp. Plodding over to Ianto, he sat down, radiating smugness.
“Nice work,” Ianto said. “I didn’t know you could breathe fire.”
Herman huffed. He was a dragon; of course he could!
The End
Herman also liked walkies with Jack, plenty of tea, and being regularly oiled to keep him in peak condition, but other than that, he was quiet, undemanding, housebroken, and while he did, on occasion, emit small puffs of smoke, he clearly wasn’t the flammable sort of dragon. He was probably less of a fire risk than the Hub’s incinerator.
The dragon had settled into Hub life surprisingly well, and in the seven months or so he’d been with the team had caused very few problems. Everyone was used to him by now, he was part of the furniture, until one day, a particularly nasty and venomous alien creature got loose in the Hub, killed Jack, then went after the other team members.
Everyone scrambled out of the way, racing for workstations, bags, the armoury, going after weapons they generally didn’t carry when they were in the safety of their own base. Ianto ran for Jack, intending to drag him to safety while the others dealt with the creature, but the alien turned out to be far faster, and more manoeuvrable than he’d thought. Turning, it went straight for him.
Before anyone could do anything to help, Herman bounded between Ianto and the alien, and let loose a blast of searing flame, burning it to a crisp. Plodding over to Ianto, he sat down, radiating smugness.
“Nice work,” Ianto said. “I didn’t know you could breathe fire.”
Herman huffed. He was a dragon; of course he could!
The End
Tags:
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-03 05:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-03 05:49 pm (UTC)Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-05 04:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-05 04:41 pm (UTC)He's a very good dragon.
Thank you!