coldAuthor:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Nosy, Jack.
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Torchwood is blessed to have access to the perfect source of warmth on a cold day.
Word Count: 412
Written For: fhionnuisce’s prompt ‘Any, any, softness like a cat tail curled around you,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Ianto smiled to himself, relaxing into the warmth; he’d been chilled practically to the bone when he’d come in from retrieving the latest bit of Rift junk; the wind off Cardiff bay was bitingly cold, seeming to cut right through his clothes as if they weren’t there, but now he was starting to glow from head to toe. Nothing beat a Fluff for softness and warmth; it was like having a huge cat tail curled around you, only better, because there was a lot more of it than a whole clowder of cats could muster.
Nosy coiled loosely around Ianto with its head in his lap and its tail draped across his feet as he sat on the sofa, sipping hot coffee. The steaming mug warmed his fingers while the hot drink, sipped carefully to avoid burning his tongue, slowly thawed him from the inside, but the Fluff’s long, dense, insulating fur was the main reason he’d stopped shivering. How had they ever managed without the friendly alien? It was more effective than any number of hot water bottles, and made a better duvet on a cold night than even the highest quality kind available in the shops.
Letting go of his coffee mug with one hand, he scritched the top of Nosy’s head with his fingertips, getting a contented hum in response. Nice though they undoubtedly were, no cat Ianto had ever met would have been as patient and cooperative as a Fluff. Nosy would stay wrapped around him like some gigantic feather boa until he wanted to get up, and then would let him go without complaint. Being empathic, Nosy knew how Ianto felt and would provide whatever comfort it could. If it had got hands, it probably would have made his coffee for him too, but as it was, Ianto had made coffee for both of them. Nosy’s was still a bit hotter than the Fluff liked, so its mug was sitting on the coffee table, cooling to an acceptable temperature.
As if it read Ianto’s thoughts, Nosy stirred, stretching its head out towards the oversized mug and taking a cautious slurp. Deciding the coffee was just right it quickly drained the mug and returned its head to Ianto’s lap.
“Feeling warmer now?” Jack asked, passing on his way to the kitchen to refill his own mug.
“Much warmer,” Ianto replied, smiling. Being snuggled by a Fluff was definitely one of the better ways of spending a cold afternoon.
The End