torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH SULU][backdated to the 10th]

Entry tags:

[RL WITH SULU][backdated to the 10th]

Ianto stood in his kitchen, in front of a grocery bag on his table. A grocery bag full of food that he had bought in preparation for making it with Sulu. For Sulu. ...what the hell had he been thinking, he wondered, as he stared at the bag in front of him before starting to pull the different ingredients out. He had absolutely no idea how to cook. He could call his sister and ask her about it, but. That would mean he'd have to call his sister and ask her about it, and although he'd come out to her a while ago, he still wasn't quite ready to talk to her about either Sulu or Jack.

He'd looked up a recipe, and really, how hard could it be?, he thought to himself, as he refrigerated the ingredients that needed to stay cold. They just had to follow the recipe, and everything should turn out fine, right? He certainly hoped so. He'd like to not make a fool of himself in front of the other man if he could help it. Sure, Sulu wouldn't mind, he figured, but. It'd be nice to get this right at least, he thought, as he went to get out the right sized pot from the back of his cabinet where it'd been sitting for probably the majority of the time he'd owned it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When Ianto texted him to tell him he was back at his flat, Sulu found himself having a rare moment of anxiety in front of the mirror in his bathroom. It was like when he'd first went down to go on a date for the first time with Ianto. Of course, tonight was more casual, and really, it was just another night. It was just a little more intimate than a busy pub or anything.

Still. He couldn't help but feel like something so mundane, so normal, was kind of a step up from the exotic beaches of foreign planets. Running a hand through his hair, he moved back into his cabin, checking to make sure the door was locked at his comm was on his belt before picking up the portkey. The pull was barely even disorienting by this point, and within a moment he was standing in Ianto's flat. Figuring the safest bet was the kitchen, he moved in that direction, calling out for the other as he did so to let him know he'd arrived.

"In here," Ianto called back, moving to shrug out of his suit jacket, hanging it up on the back of the kitchen chair. He was working on undoing the buttons of his cuffs and rolling his sleeves up when Sulu came into the kitchen, and he paused in his motions. For one thing, it was amazing that they even had the time to spare for each other like this, to be able to set something up and maybe even follow through with it (assuming that Jack wouldn't call him in, he'd left the man strict orders for "only if it's an emergency"). For another thing, Sulu looked...well, more than fairly attractive in the outfit he had on. Ianto was used to seeing him in his uniform or just jeans and a t-shirt. Sure, he'd seen him in fancier things than the nice button-down and jeans he had on in that moment, but. Ianto had to pause and take in the image of him nonetheless.

"Oh wow," he said, with a smile, before starting forward to greet the other man with a kiss. Which was a little more of a welcome than he usually gave, but. This was a more special occasion than usual as well. "You're looking nice. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, teasing a little, but it was also true. Sulu did look pretty great. Ianto wondered if maybe he should have put a little more effort into this and changed from the clothes he'd been wearing all day as well.

Edited 2011-07-27 05:56 (UTC)

Sulu went into the kiss with the semi-easy graces of a man who was pretending that he hadn't been slightly anxious over a mundane home-cooked meal, grinning when the other pulled back. "My mother always told me to dress nice for company," he said teasingly, before shrugging his shoulders a little and flushing slightly. "Honestly, it was the last clean, non-uniform shirt I had. Well. The last one hanging up."

Thankfully, Ianto hadn't changed - Sulu had been hedging his bets that a button down and a pair of jeans wouldn't be too fancy, given the fact that Ianto normally kept to suits. It was normal. Everything about the situation was normal - except for the idea of cooking. (Maybe that's what had him nervous?)

"The last one that wasn't tossed wrinkling in some corner of your closet, you mean?" Ianto said, with a smirk, though he was only teasing. Sulu was a bit better at keeping his room clean than that. He didn't really have that much to make it dirty, after all, not stationed on the Enterprise, at least. Ianto had to wonder what the state of a more permanent living space of Sulu's might look like, but he wouldn't have any way of finding out, now would he?

"Well, I guess I have to thank your mother for imparting such wisdom on you, then," he continued, with a smile. "You do look nice." Truth be told, Ianto was feeling a little awkward about the whole cooking thing as well, so he...was being a little awkward too. He tried to hide it though, turning back to the table. "Well. I... Guess we should start then, since. You're here, and there's no sense waiting any longer, right?" Except for the fact that Ianto had absolutely no clue what he was doing, but. That was besides the point.

Sulu nodded and laughed a little, shuffling his feet for a moment before moving around Ianto and towards the table, looking into the grocery bag at the ingredients that weren't refrigerated. The comment about his mother made Sulu wonder about how he could get them to meet - he wasn't even sure how possible it would be, but... maybe. Someday. Not until their mission was over, though.

He could only hope someone had gone through and cleared out his room between now and then, because he was pretty sure Ianto would never let him live down the mess he'd left behind. "Okay, then. Let's do it, I guess. ...Even though I have no idea what we're doing." He grinned at Ianto; normally, he was hardpressed to admit that he didn't know how to do something, but... this was different. This was Ianto, and they were cooking, and neither of them knew how to do it at all.

Ianto smiled, ducking his head and blushing. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do some sort of fettuccine alfredo thing, maybe? I mean. It's pasta, but it's not...I don't know, it's not just spaghetti and marinara sauce. There's more cooking involved. More of a challenge that way. Plus..." He crossed to where the box of pasta was lying out on the counter and turned it over, showing Sulu the back of the box sheepishly. "The recipe's on the back of the box, so I didn't really have to do any looking in that regard either," he said, with a bashful smile.

"If that's alright with you, that is. You did say that you didn't have any food allergies or anything, the last time. The last thing I need to do is accidentally kill you because you can't handle garlic or anything like that," he said. Alright, so he was being a little awkward. It was to be expected, considering the fact that he was trying to be smooth and suave and make dinner for the other man, and he had absolutely no idea how to cook.

"Sounds good to me. I like pasta, and anyway - box recipes are usually there because they're tried and true. We can't really mess that up, right?" Sulu grinned, his tone indicating that yeah, maybe they could mess it up, but not badly enough that it wouldn't be good. Running a hand through his hair, then making a face and moving to the sink to wash his hands, he said, "I take it the first step is 'bring the water to a boil' or something, right?"

Ianto certainly hoped that they wouldn't mess it up, but who knew at that point. It was an adventure into a territory that he tried not to venture into whenever he could help it. Checking the box, Ianto nodded. "Yeah. The pasta and the sauce are kind of separate to each other. If we think we're capable of multitasking, we could even attempt both at the same time, but the sauce goes on top of the pasta so the pasta definitely needs to be boiled first."

Ianto nodded toward the pot. "Alright, so. D'you want to do the honors, then?" he asked, referring to filling it up with water.

Sulu wasn't so sure about multitasking, but at the same time, it took about ten minutes to get a pot of water to boil, and by then they could get the sauce started enough that it would be all ready at the same time. Hopefully, at least.

"Yeah, sure," he said, grabbing the pot and taking it to the sink, before pausing. "How much water, anyway?" he asked, turning on the faucet and starting to fill the pot with water. "Not the whole thing, right?" He was pretty sure that would be a recipe for disaster.

"Not the whole thing, no," Ianto confirmed, looking over the instructions and then back to Sulu. "I'd say...enough to cover the pasta and not evaporate away while it's cooking? So... Half way? Three quarters? Something like that." Ianto paused for a moment, before going to his cupboards, digging around. "I'm not even sure if I've got a colander in here or not. We may have to improvise..."

Sulu nearly opened his mouth to ask what a colander was, but then he stopped himself and just changed it to, "How hard can that be?" He figured it was only a matter of time before Ianto realized that Sulu really had only the barest idea of what anything in a kitchen was, but he wasn't eager to rush the revelation.

He stuck to just over half-way for the water, moving the pot over to the stove because, okay, he did get the basics of how to boil water, thank you very much. Sulu was pretty sure he'd die if he messed that one up. "Do we have everything else, at least?" he asked.

"Well, we just have to find a way to drain the water out, is all," Ianto said, digging. "Whether we use a lid, or...I don't know, just holding it in with a fork while we pour out the water... Aha!" Ianto rose triumphantly, having found a colander. He tried to be prepared for every situation, even ones in cooking that he didn't fully understand.

"I think we do," Ianto said, looking at the recipe once more after he'd set the colander on the counter. "We just need... I mean, well. It says whisk, but. We could just use a fork..." He thought, anyway. He really wasn't sure about much, as far as cooking was concerned, but. Really, how bad could they mess up here? It was only pasta...

Sulu couldn't help but blink at Ianto as he gave a little shout, looking at him and raising an eyebrow. He recognized the colander - basically - as a strainer, and thankfully he didn't feel like a complete ass now that he knew what he was being faced with.

"Should be fine. Well," he said, once he'd turned the right knob for the stove, "We've got the water. So. I guess we go on to the rest of it until that's boiling, right?"

"Yeah," Ianto said, looking at what they had to do. "I think so. There's really not that much preparation that we can do. I'd rather measure things out as we need them, not sit here and do that now, so..." He looked to the other man, with a smile. "I suppose we wait now, then, huh?" He looked amused. "You know what they say about a watched pot, and how it never boils. Maybe we should sit down for a moment. The stove's electric, it's going to take a moment or two to get the mechanism even heated in the first place," Ianto said, with a nod towards the kitchen table.

Ianto was the one holding the box with the recipe on it, which, in Sulu's eyes, was enough to make him the one in charge (as if being in his kitchen, cooking in his century wasn't enough). So, when Ianto suggested they sit, he easily moved to one of the chairs closest to Ianto, sinking into it and looking at the other man.

"Did you ever expect me to seriously take you up on the suggestion of cooking at home?" Sulu asked, grinning a little.

"Honestly?" Ianto asked, setting the box down on the table, taking his jacket off to hang on the back of the chair and then going for his tie next, to get a little more comfortable. "Not in the least. I thought that we were both joking about it to begin with, until I realized that you were serious." Once he had the tie knot undone, he slipped it off and hung it over the back of the chair with his jacket. "Which is probably why I came off as a bit of an arse, until I figured out that you weren't having me on. And then, well..." He shrugged. "Didn't want to back down from a challenge, I suppose."

"If it helps, I didn't really think you were being any more teasing than usual," Sulu said with a grin. "With any luck, though, this isn't going to be a huge challenge or anything. I really don't want to get bested by a pot of boiling noodles and some sauce." Not that Sulu really thought that would happen; he had a good feeling about this night. Either way, it was going to be good, even if they somehow overcooked the pasta or something. "But, yeah. Now you know - I'm actually interested in doing mundane, domestic things with you. Just don't ask me to help you with chores, like cleaning or something. I end up getting really busy when stuff like that comes up," he said with a wink.

"I'm sure if I really wanted to I could come up with some sort of bribe that might be successful in getting you to stick around and do them," he said, with a smirking smile in the other man's direction. He leaned back in the chair, stretching a little. "It's nice to know that you are interested in doing things like this with me, though. I mean. It's kind of a part of life, after all. I can't be sex on the beach and taking me flying in a spaceship all the time. There does have to be a time when I...y'know. Have to go to the market and make supper and clean my flat, things like that."

Sulu ran a hand through his hair, grinning back at Ianto. "It'd have to be one hell of a bribe. I made getting out of cleaning up an art when I was a kid, you know. I don't take out the trash for just anyone." Even though he wasn't entirely kidding, the truth was that Sulu really didn't try too hard to get out of cleaning up, and he did it whenever asked, so. Ianto probably really wouldn't have to work too hard.

But maybe it'd be fun to see how far he'd go to get Sulu's help...

"I've told you before, but the mundane things are more interesting for me anyway. I don't get to sit around boiling water and making pasta, usually, so... it's a good change of pace. Even though sex on the beach and flying are really good alternatives."

Ianto smirked at that comment about bribery, mischievously rising to the challenge. "Yes, well. I'm pretty good at thinking on my toes, and I'm pretty sure I have a whole arsenal of material to use if I so feel the need, so. Challenge accepted, Lieutenant, should the occasion arise."

He let that settle for a moment, before shaking his head, breaking the moment. "Really though... It's nice. That you don't mind. At least that way I won't start to bore you, if it turns out that we ever hit a calmer patch of things where... I don't know, this sort of thing might become the most exciting parts of our lives." Okay, probably wasn't going to happen, considering their jobs, but. Who knew, right? Maybe they would hit a dry spell where home cooking was all they could get? ...god, Ianto certainly hoped not.

"Naturally arise," Sulu pointed out, "You can't go manufacturing a huge mess in the flat just to bribe me over here, you know."

The chances that their lives would ever calm down to the point where they'd get to play being normal for the long term was highly unlikely, that was for sure. It was a nice thought, but he knew if it happened they'd probably be driven crazy or something. He wouldn't really want it. Nights like this were plenty, as far as he was concerned. "I think we'll just have to stick to spending a night every so often pretending to be boring, with the way Torchwood and Starfleet have us wrapped happily around their fingers."

Ianto chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "I think you know me a little too well to ever think I was capable of purposely making a mess out of the order of things that I've so carefully established. Lucky for you, there won't be any manufactured messes to help me with."

"Sounds like a plan, though. Pretending to be any other normal, boring couple every now and again. I don't see you enough for it to be every day, though, so we better stick with only occasionally for now." He paused for a minute of their conversation, listening. "You know what, though, I think the water might be finally boiling now. It might be time for phase two, here." And Ianto didn't know whether he was anticipating or dreading the next few steps in cooking, really.

"Wouldn't want to over do it, right?" Sulu joked, grinning as Ianto paused to listen to the water. When he announced that they could move on with their cooking, Sulu pushed his chair back and stood, moving over to the pot. "Alright, so. Time for the pasta? And then the rest of it while that's doing its thing, right?"

Ianto nodded. "Yep. Time for the pasta, and then we start on the rest of it." Standing, Ianto made his way over to the pot, opening the box of fettuccine. "Alright, so... How much do you think we should make? I don't know about you, but serving sizes are never really enough for me. It might do to double the amount of pasta they say to put in. Or at least make it more than the suggestion. I don't think we really want to make the whole box, though..." Ianto didn't know how well leftovers would keep, considering he was never really home to eat them.

Sulu would have said the whole box, if only Ianto hadn't said the exact opposite of that. "I don't know - half of the box? Maybe three-fourths? I mean, pasta keeps forever, doesn't it?"

Then again, he was used to replicators making only the allotted serving size at a time, so maybe he was a bad person to come to in that case. "You're the guy with the box, you should probably pick. I'd say just put the whole thing in, but then again, you never know if you'll want to save it for something."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject