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littledoglaughedTitle: If You Want to Go Walking in the Tall Green Grass
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rustydog
Characters: Ianto, Gwen
Rating/warnings: rated G, set post-”Exit Wounds”
Words: ~1440
Beta:donutsweeper, and thanks to aeron_lanart for some extra help along the way
Notes: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bringthehappy Happyfest II for the prompt “Torchwood; Ianto, Gwen; horses.” The title is a reference to a Neil Young song.
Summary: On some rural field work, Gwen is reminded of an old friend and makes it a memorable experience for Ianto.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
~James Wright, from “A Blessing”
It had been almost an hour's drive to the horse farm, and even now it was only 6:30 a.m. They were walking through a series of fields toward toward the location of something the Hub computer had picked up, something that looked worryingly like a far flung instance of Rift activity.
Their shoes were soaked by the dewy grass, and Ianto was pretty sure he had stepped in something that wasn't mud. Gwen, however, just breathed deeply and smiled.
"You're chipper for this time of morning," Ianto observed as he squinted at his handheld device. Its lights and screen, normally glowing bright blue, appeared dim in the morning sunlight. "Don't tell me that coffee at the petrol station was better than mine."
Gwen laughed. "As if any coffee in the world could be! No, I just... being here brings back good memories. I took riding lessons for years when I was a girl. I love the way the stable smells, the grass, everything." She inhaled more of the cool air. "And the horses. My pony was called Gum Drop." She smiled wistfully. "She was lovely, only had one bad habit."
"I had budgies, Thimble and Bobbin," Ianto offered, head still down concentrating on the readings in the device. "My parents weren't really animal people."
Just then Gwen said "Oh!" and put out an arm to stop him from running into a hedge he hadn't seen.
"Okay..." Ianto said, taking stock of their obstacle. "We have to continue that way," he nodded in a direction that would have taken them straight through the hedge.
"So—over, through, or around?" Gwe wondered, listing their options. "There's probably a gate along somewhere."
Ianto nodded, consulting the small screen of his handheld. "We'll go along the hedge... north, I think? The readings seem spread out. I'm not as good at the finer details of this thing as Tosh was."
Gwen sighed at his use of the past tense. Ianto looked at her sympathetically, and they turned toward the right and walked with their shoulders close together for a few moments. Gwen finally broke the silence.
"Toffee?" She had produced three wrapped sweets from somewhere and was holding them in the palm of her hand, up in Ianto's field of vision.
"Ah, thank you, but no," Ianto shook his head. "Too early in the morning for me. Did you get those at the petrol station?"
"Had to have something to make that coffee palatable." Gwen made a face. "All right then, suit yourself." She unwrapped the waxy paper from one sweet and popped the confection into her mouth. She had barely had time to roll it over on her tongue when they came upon a break in the hedge.
Once they were through, Ianto stood still and checked the readings again. “It's close... about 400 meters that way,” he said and pointed at a hill just beyond the southwest corner of the field they were now standing in.
Gwen didn't respond. Her attention was focused on the opposite side of the field. “Oh, darlings! Hello!” she called to several horses grazing near the fence. Most of them continued to graze, but one raised its head high and stared at them. They were just close enough to see its nostrils flare, blowing wisps of steam in the cool air.
“Isn't she lovely!” Gwen cooed, taking a step towards the horse. “There was a chestnut mare like that at my stable, years ago. She adored children.” The mare had started to walk toward them, ears pricked forward eagerly.
Ianto cleared his throat. “I don't think socializing with horses is part of our assignment here.”
Gwen sighed and nodded in agreement. “Of course. Maybe just a minute on our way back...”
But the horse hadn't got the memo. She continued toward them, veering when they started to walk, as if to intercept them. Ianto ignored her, concentrating again on his handheld.
Gwen sniffled, then plunged her hand into Ianto's jacket pocket. “Got a handkerchief, love? Must be this cool morning, I'm a bit runny...” She was quite zealous in her search through the pocket, startling Ianto a bit.
“A bit intimate, aren't we Mrs. Williams?”
Gwen withdrew her hand and giggled, then settled her face into a stern and serious demeanor. “Sorry! Forgot myself. I'm around you as much as I am Rhys these days. More, really.”
They were halfway across the field when the chestnut mare, trotting now, whickered in greeting, caught up with them, and slowed to their pace. “Sorry, sweetheart,” Gwen told her, “we're on a mission. We'll visit with you later!”
But the horse wouldn't be dissuaded. She trotted around into their path, blocking them. When Ianto warily tried to walk around her, she extended her neck toward him, blowing through her nostrils and catching a loose part of his jacket in her lips. “Hey!” he cried, jumping back and looking at Gwen for guidance. “What's it doing?”
“She likes you,” Gwen called, standing back, grinning. “Don't run away, she'll only follow you!”
The horse took another step toward Ianto, bobbing her head up and down insistently. She pushed her nose between Ianto's ribs and arm, snuffling, searching for something. Ianto stood his ground but moved his arms out and above his head, keeping his handheld away from the huge, searching lips.
The horse seemed to love Ianto's jacket, the pocket area in particular. She shoved forward, nipping at the pocket, pushing her whole head into Ianto's chest. Ianto couldn't hold his ground any more, and as he tried to step back his heel caught on a clump of weeds, sending him tumbling onto his seat in the wet grass. He grunted in frustration, and Gwen broke into laughter.
The horse, unfazed by either expression of human emotion, continued her her goal of eating Ianto's jacket, her head down farther now, continuing to nudge his chest as if suggesting he help her. “Gwen!” Ianto called sharply.
Still laughing, Gwen came to his rescue. “Ianto, I'm sorry!” she said, coming around the horse and leaning down toward him. “Get off, you,” she told the horse. She put a shoulder to the long, muscled neck and used her weight to shift it away from Ianto for a moment. “Here,” she said, once more reaching into his pocket. “She wants these.” She withdrew her hand and showed him two toffees.
Ianto opened his mouth but didn't know what to say for the moment. Gwen offered him her other hand, placing her body between him and the horse while helping him up out of the grass. Then she turned, unwrapped the toffees, and offered them to the mare in a flat, upturned palm.
“There you go, sweetheart, those were a challenge to earn, weren't they?” She buried her face in the horse's mane and stroked its neck while it slurped and chewed the sweets.
Ianto waited patiently, and when she turned around, she met his raised eyebrows and an expression that demanded an explanation.
She laughed again. “Ianto, I'm so sorry! I can't help it. I just – saw the horse coming and something took control of me.”
“So it's not that you don't have your own pockets...”
“Gum Drop's bad habit was stealing sugar, and I just thought, maybe... I didn't think this one'd knock you over, though!”
Ianto nodded and managed to keep his displeased expression for two seconds, but then the corner of his mouth twitched. “You owe me a pair of dry trousers. And I'd watch my back for the next week.”
She grinned. “Is that a threat, Ianto Jones?”
“Maybe. You have no way of knowing.” He cocked an eyebrow at her and lifted his hand, showing that he had managed to hold onto his scanning device the whole time. “Now then—?”
“Right,” she acknowledged. She turned back to the horse, hooked an arm companionably over the slope of the head, planted a kiss on the broad jaw, then gently pushed away. “Go on now, dear, you've had your snack!” The mare started walking, and Gwen slapped her glossy hindquarters as she passed.
Gwen fell into step with Ianto, and they started again in their original direction, toward the supposed site of the rift activity. The Hub computer hadn't been able to give them an idea what they might find there.
“I hope it's nothing hairy or with large teeth,” Gwen said.
“Or weapons,” Ianto added.
“Maybe this time the Rift has just spat out some donuts. It could happen, don't you think?”
“You'd just feed them to the horse,” Ianto accused with a reluctant smile, and they continued to walk, the grass now almost dry under their feet.
Author:
rustydogCharacters: Ianto, Gwen
Rating/warnings: rated G, set post-”Exit Wounds”
Words: ~1440
Beta:
donutsweeper, and thanks to aeron_lanart for some extra help along the wayNotes: Written for the
bringthehappy Happyfest II for the prompt “Torchwood; Ianto, Gwen; horses.” The title is a reference to a Neil Young song.Summary: On some rural field work, Gwen is reminded of an old friend and makes it a memorable experience for Ianto.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
~James Wright, from “A Blessing”
It had been almost an hour's drive to the horse farm, and even now it was only 6:30 a.m. They were walking through a series of fields toward toward the location of something the Hub computer had picked up, something that looked worryingly like a far flung instance of Rift activity.
Their shoes were soaked by the dewy grass, and Ianto was pretty sure he had stepped in something that wasn't mud. Gwen, however, just breathed deeply and smiled.
"You're chipper for this time of morning," Ianto observed as he squinted at his handheld device. Its lights and screen, normally glowing bright blue, appeared dim in the morning sunlight. "Don't tell me that coffee at the petrol station was better than mine."
Gwen laughed. "As if any coffee in the world could be! No, I just... being here brings back good memories. I took riding lessons for years when I was a girl. I love the way the stable smells, the grass, everything." She inhaled more of the cool air. "And the horses. My pony was called Gum Drop." She smiled wistfully. "She was lovely, only had one bad habit."
"I had budgies, Thimble and Bobbin," Ianto offered, head still down concentrating on the readings in the device. "My parents weren't really animal people."
Just then Gwen said "Oh!" and put out an arm to stop him from running into a hedge he hadn't seen.
"Okay..." Ianto said, taking stock of their obstacle. "We have to continue that way," he nodded in a direction that would have taken them straight through the hedge.
"So—over, through, or around?" Gwe wondered, listing their options. "There's probably a gate along somewhere."
Ianto nodded, consulting the small screen of his handheld. "We'll go along the hedge... north, I think? The readings seem spread out. I'm not as good at the finer details of this thing as Tosh was."
Gwen sighed at his use of the past tense. Ianto looked at her sympathetically, and they turned toward the right and walked with their shoulders close together for a few moments. Gwen finally broke the silence.
"Toffee?" She had produced three wrapped sweets from somewhere and was holding them in the palm of her hand, up in Ianto's field of vision.
"Ah, thank you, but no," Ianto shook his head. "Too early in the morning for me. Did you get those at the petrol station?"
"Had to have something to make that coffee palatable." Gwen made a face. "All right then, suit yourself." She unwrapped the waxy paper from one sweet and popped the confection into her mouth. She had barely had time to roll it over on her tongue when they came upon a break in the hedge.
Once they were through, Ianto stood still and checked the readings again. “It's close... about 400 meters that way,” he said and pointed at a hill just beyond the southwest corner of the field they were now standing in.
Gwen didn't respond. Her attention was focused on the opposite side of the field. “Oh, darlings! Hello!” she called to several horses grazing near the fence. Most of them continued to graze, but one raised its head high and stared at them. They were just close enough to see its nostrils flare, blowing wisps of steam in the cool air.
“Isn't she lovely!” Gwen cooed, taking a step towards the horse. “There was a chestnut mare like that at my stable, years ago. She adored children.” The mare had started to walk toward them, ears pricked forward eagerly.
Ianto cleared his throat. “I don't think socializing with horses is part of our assignment here.”
Gwen sighed and nodded in agreement. “Of course. Maybe just a minute on our way back...”
But the horse hadn't got the memo. She continued toward them, veering when they started to walk, as if to intercept them. Ianto ignored her, concentrating again on his handheld.
Gwen sniffled, then plunged her hand into Ianto's jacket pocket. “Got a handkerchief, love? Must be this cool morning, I'm a bit runny...” She was quite zealous in her search through the pocket, startling Ianto a bit.
“A bit intimate, aren't we Mrs. Williams?”
Gwen withdrew her hand and giggled, then settled her face into a stern and serious demeanor. “Sorry! Forgot myself. I'm around you as much as I am Rhys these days. More, really.”
They were halfway across the field when the chestnut mare, trotting now, whickered in greeting, caught up with them, and slowed to their pace. “Sorry, sweetheart,” Gwen told her, “we're on a mission. We'll visit with you later!”
But the horse wouldn't be dissuaded. She trotted around into their path, blocking them. When Ianto warily tried to walk around her, she extended her neck toward him, blowing through her nostrils and catching a loose part of his jacket in her lips. “Hey!” he cried, jumping back and looking at Gwen for guidance. “What's it doing?”
“She likes you,” Gwen called, standing back, grinning. “Don't run away, she'll only follow you!”
The horse took another step toward Ianto, bobbing her head up and down insistently. She pushed her nose between Ianto's ribs and arm, snuffling, searching for something. Ianto stood his ground but moved his arms out and above his head, keeping his handheld away from the huge, searching lips.
The horse seemed to love Ianto's jacket, the pocket area in particular. She shoved forward, nipping at the pocket, pushing her whole head into Ianto's chest. Ianto couldn't hold his ground any more, and as he tried to step back his heel caught on a clump of weeds, sending him tumbling onto his seat in the wet grass. He grunted in frustration, and Gwen broke into laughter.
The horse, unfazed by either expression of human emotion, continued her her goal of eating Ianto's jacket, her head down farther now, continuing to nudge his chest as if suggesting he help her. “Gwen!” Ianto called sharply.
Still laughing, Gwen came to his rescue. “Ianto, I'm sorry!” she said, coming around the horse and leaning down toward him. “Get off, you,” she told the horse. She put a shoulder to the long, muscled neck and used her weight to shift it away from Ianto for a moment. “Here,” she said, once more reaching into his pocket. “She wants these.” She withdrew her hand and showed him two toffees.
Ianto opened his mouth but didn't know what to say for the moment. Gwen offered him her other hand, placing her body between him and the horse while helping him up out of the grass. Then she turned, unwrapped the toffees, and offered them to the mare in a flat, upturned palm.
“There you go, sweetheart, those were a challenge to earn, weren't they?” She buried her face in the horse's mane and stroked its neck while it slurped and chewed the sweets.
Ianto waited patiently, and when she turned around, she met his raised eyebrows and an expression that demanded an explanation.
She laughed again. “Ianto, I'm so sorry! I can't help it. I just – saw the horse coming and something took control of me.”
“So it's not that you don't have your own pockets...”
“Gum Drop's bad habit was stealing sugar, and I just thought, maybe... I didn't think this one'd knock you over, though!”
Ianto nodded and managed to keep his displeased expression for two seconds, but then the corner of his mouth twitched. “You owe me a pair of dry trousers. And I'd watch my back for the next week.”
She grinned. “Is that a threat, Ianto Jones?”
“Maybe. You have no way of knowing.” He cocked an eyebrow at her and lifted his hand, showing that he had managed to hold onto his scanning device the whole time. “Now then—?”
“Right,” she acknowledged. She turned back to the horse, hooked an arm companionably over the slope of the head, planted a kiss on the broad jaw, then gently pushed away. “Go on now, dear, you've had your snack!” The mare started walking, and Gwen slapped her glossy hindquarters as she passed.
Gwen fell into step with Ianto, and they started again in their original direction, toward the supposed site of the rift activity. The Hub computer hadn't been able to give them an idea what they might find there.
“I hope it's nothing hairy or with large teeth,” Gwen said.
“Or weapons,” Ianto added.
“Maybe this time the Rift has just spat out some donuts. It could happen, don't you think?”
“You'd just feed them to the horse,” Ianto accused with a reluctant smile, and they continued to walk, the grass now almost dry under their feet.
