Ficlet: Battle Of The Library
Feb. 6th, 2026 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Battle Of The Library
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 564
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Something very odd is going on at the Cardiff public library.
Written For:
ravenlilyrose’s prompt ‘any, any, vicious fight over a book in the library’, at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
threesentenceficathon.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Because Cardiff was situated on a Rift through space and time, there always seemed to be something odd happening somewhere around the city that Torchwood needed to deal with, even though most of it wasn’t actually their fault. They were simply the only people with the knowledge and the ability to handle things that were… a bit out of the ordinary. That, of course, meant everything from minor incidents that left members of the public scratching their heads in puzzlement, to the kind of disaster that caused mass panic and required large quantities of Retcon.
At least this one wasn’t likely to cause any kind of serious panic, although a few doses of Retcon might prove necessary. It depended on how many people happened to see what was going on before Torchwood solved the problem. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too many, due to the location of the disturbance, but anyone who regularly dealt with aliens, alien tech, and other related issues, soon learned that it was unwise to take anything for granted, because… Well, anything was possible, even… this.
“Okay, that’s different,” Jack admitted as he watched the all-out battle taking place in Cardiff Central Library, a place that was normally the epitome of quiet, calm respectability, and right now was nothing of the sort.
Not that this situation was any more bizarre than the general run of Torchwood-related weirdness; it was mostly the setting that made it seem weirder than usual… Well, that and the combatants themselves, because Jack was right, ‘different’ it most certainly was. All this fuss over a single slim volume of romantic poetry. It was a new acquisition for the library’s classic literature collection, which was housed in a locked room not accessible to the general public on account of the rarity of some of the books, most of which had been donated by collectors.
“Shouldn’t we put a stop to this before any the books get damaged?” Ianto asked, eyeing the fracas nervously. He liked books, he even had an access card to this particular room, although in all his visits, he’d never seen it looking quite like this.
“I’m open to suggestions on how to break up the fight without damaging anything,” Jack said, hands shoved deep in his coat pockets. “But I think the only thing that’s going to make any difference is if Tosh can reverse the effects of the device that’s causing this. She’s working on it, but it might take a while.”
“Well, I just hope those books don’t tear each other’s pages out. I’m not even sure what they hope to gain by fighting each other over the new volume.”
“You’re not?” Jack turned to his lover with an expression of complete disbelief. “Look at her binding! Saucy red leather and sexy gold leaf, who wouldn’t want a piece of that? The winner probably gets to sit next to the new girl on the shelf,” Jack quipped.
“You think gold leaf is sexy?”
“Don’t you?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it.” Ianto sighed, staring helplessly at the ongoing battle. “Who would have thought volumes by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Dickens would be so uncouth? I could understand if it was Lord Byron, he had that kind of reputation, but…” He shook his head. “Well, at least Dylan Thomas isn’t getting involved. We Welsh do have our national pride and dignity to consider.”
The End
At least this one wasn’t likely to cause any kind of serious panic, although a few doses of Retcon might prove necessary. It depended on how many people happened to see what was going on before Torchwood solved the problem. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too many, due to the location of the disturbance, but anyone who regularly dealt with aliens, alien tech, and other related issues, soon learned that it was unwise to take anything for granted, because… Well, anything was possible, even… this.
“Okay, that’s different,” Jack admitted as he watched the all-out battle taking place in Cardiff Central Library, a place that was normally the epitome of quiet, calm respectability, and right now was nothing of the sort.
Not that this situation was any more bizarre than the general run of Torchwood-related weirdness; it was mostly the setting that made it seem weirder than usual… Well, that and the combatants themselves, because Jack was right, ‘different’ it most certainly was. All this fuss over a single slim volume of romantic poetry. It was a new acquisition for the library’s classic literature collection, which was housed in a locked room not accessible to the general public on account of the rarity of some of the books, most of which had been donated by collectors.
“Shouldn’t we put a stop to this before any the books get damaged?” Ianto asked, eyeing the fracas nervously. He liked books, he even had an access card to this particular room, although in all his visits, he’d never seen it looking quite like this.
“I’m open to suggestions on how to break up the fight without damaging anything,” Jack said, hands shoved deep in his coat pockets. “But I think the only thing that’s going to make any difference is if Tosh can reverse the effects of the device that’s causing this. She’s working on it, but it might take a while.”
“Well, I just hope those books don’t tear each other’s pages out. I’m not even sure what they hope to gain by fighting each other over the new volume.”
“You’re not?” Jack turned to his lover with an expression of complete disbelief. “Look at her binding! Saucy red leather and sexy gold leaf, who wouldn’t want a piece of that? The winner probably gets to sit next to the new girl on the shelf,” Jack quipped.
“You think gold leaf is sexy?”
“Don’t you?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it.” Ianto sighed, staring helplessly at the ongoing battle. “Who would have thought volumes by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Dickens would be so uncouth? I could understand if it was Lord Byron, he had that kind of reputation, but…” He shook his head. “Well, at least Dylan Thomas isn’t getting involved. We Welsh do have our national pride and dignity to consider.”
The End
(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-06 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-06 05:48 pm (UTC)Thank you!