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( a very good guess, ianto, and whilst it helps the answer is much simpler than that )

I'm an archaeologist.

( history, other cultures, people. all her speciality. maybe not the people )

An archaeologist? Really?

[Ianto raises his eyebrows further at that.]

From the 52nd century, that must be... A pretty wild field of study by that point, certainly.

Exactly how I like it.

( never mind that she was also a time travelling archaeologist. such adventures, such stories. and she'd even tell him some )

Every planet has its own story -- many of them, in fact.

[He nods in response to this. He can believe it. If every different planet is as varied as this world they've wound up on here, he can certainly believe it himself.]

Forgive me for the obvious, perhaps boring question, but. Done any work on Earth?

[He flicks her the hint of a smile.]

Your history being my present day, after all. Must be pretty odd, all things considered.

I've done a lot of work on Earth.

( though in years that would be his history. it also wasn't archaeological so much as it was investigatory. she'd spent a good few months as a p.i. after all )

My last time there vaguely expedition-wise was-- Rome.

( and she hadn't gone digging for archaeology either )

Rome, huh? I suppose that would be an archaeologist's dream, working there. Certainly more than Wales, at any rate.

[He flicks her another smile, before turning to look forward again at the road ahead.]

I did a bit of work with artifacts too, if you can believe it. Not as an archaeologist, though. [He tilts his head towards her.] Once upon a time, I used to be an archivist.

I wouldn't be able to do my job well without a good archivist.

( which is probably why river did all of her research herself and ignored them. she didn't trust the ones she'd encountered to be good )

Though I wouldn't count Wales out. Everything has a history.

( and the wales she knows has an interesting one )

[He smiles in response to her comment about archivists.]

Well. I try my best. Though you're right about that much. Everything has a history. And Wales is more exciting than a lot of people give it the credit for.

[Especially when you work to collect alien artifacts, and the city has a habit of spitting them out at you at that.]

Exciting? That's starting to sound like somewhere I'd enjoy.

( and that's without knowing the best bits )

Just what makes it so thrilling?

[Ianto taps the side of his nose and leads her off down a side street and into an unassuming building nearby. It could be anything from a shop to a restaurant, but as promised Ianto has brought her to one of his more favorite places to catch a drink. It's a bit as though a saloon were to have crossed itself with a pub, if that pub were also to have been on an alien planet of course. Rather similar to the feel of the coffee shop that he works in across town. Maybe that helps him enjoy it all the more.]

Here we are then.

[He leads her to a spot at the bar, allowing her to get herself situated before he answers her question at last.]

I suppose you could say it was the city itself. Cardiff, that is. As odd as that might sound. And my job. The organization I worked for, and the people who worked there with me.

( ooh, you cheeky thing, ianto. but she appreciates the challenge, already thinking of other ways that she might have to use to get that information from him.

she lets it fall quiet for a moment to just take a look around as they walk through the 'saloon'. she takes note of how many people are there, where the exits are and perhaps even catching sight of the more expensive drinks. for another day )

Your job as an archivist?

( few would go so far as to say their work was thrilling but perhaps he really loved his work -- and river could appreciate that )

[Ianto slips his backpack off, setting it down at his feet and offering her the flick of a smile. He knows how it must sound, especially to someone who knows exactly how exciting archives can be at times. (In other words, not very exciting at all.)

Still, he can't say that he's lying. Even when he'd worked in the historical museum in Wales, he'd enjoyed what he'd done. But the things he worked with, the job he had had most recently...]

Yeah. I suppose you could say that Torchwood kept even the most boring positions on their toes.

( river had been halfway through ordering a drink when it had come up. it made her freeze, recognition flickering in her expression, with her taking a few seconds before finishing the order, slowly turning back to him.

she'd been careful to never run into them after hearing, and reading, of their past exploits, and though it seemed that their 'more recent' (in his perspective) endeavours were not so cruel there was still some bias. her husband's interactions with them in the past were all she knew and she trusted his judgement )

Torchwood?

( in cardiff. with the rift. oh, this certainly was an unexpected development )

Well, unless it's a large coincidence, I believe your Earth is the one I know.

[Ianto catches that look that River flashes at him, and tilts his head at her, raising an eyebrow of his own. He raises a hand to the bartender and orders a drink himself before he turns to ask:]

A coincidence? How do you mean?

[What's he said that's sparked that glimmer of recognition in her eyes?]

Torchwood Three is situated in Cardiff.

( was by her time but from his point of view, it's still currently there so that's the tense she chooses.

river waits, letting him confirm or deny that he's also talking about the same torchwood, that it isn't coincidentally something else with the same name, almost ignoring her drink when it arrives )

[He watches her for a long moment. She knows about Torchwood Three? From the future? He has to wonder what sort of an impact they leave, that she should have heard about them living in the 52nd century, but he supposes that it's not him specifically she's heard about. He tries hard not to think about what exactly he might have left in the record books at all. Torchwood employees don't exactly live to draw their pensions, and it's not like that timeline is possible now, having been stolen to this place, anyway.]

That's right. 2007 -- we're the last active Torchwood base. Centered on the Cardiff Rift. And I'm their archivist.

[He pauses a beat, before continuing:] I expect I don't have to explain to you what that means, then.

No, you don't.

( there's a pause, river turning her head to take her drink, a rather sizeable mouthful being swallowed from it )

It explains why being on another planet may not be the most surprising thing. The planet perhaps but not the alien nature of it.

[Ianto glances up as his own drink is delivered, giving him a distraction for a moment. He's not exactly certain what to make of her reaction, but he welcomes the moment to take a sip of his drink and ponder it.]

No, I think the cat's rather out of the bag on that one, all things considered.

( her glass is returned to the counter, hand resting on the bar.

there are many things that she could ask, things relating to the history of torchwood but instead river wants to be friendly -- she'd found him very agreeable before this revelation )

How long have you worked for them?

[Ianto swirls his drink in his glass for a moment, thinking back on how long it really has been. He supposes if you want to be specific, you'd need to take away the time between when Torchwood Tower had fallen and also that month when he'd been on suspension, but in terms of when his hire date was...]

Three years, thereabouts? Almost four now I suppose, if you're counting all the months spent here.

[Him being the only member of Torchwood awake. Up until Jack waltzed into his life and turned it on it's head. And yes, that definitely meant he was hired at 22. In case you were wondering.]

( that was a long time. river wasn't familiar enough with the dates to know what, if any, major events he might have seen. but there were aliens, perhaps adventures-- )

That's a lot of preparation. ( for here. a lot of time to become familiar with aliens even if it wasn't entirely comfortable. how good was he at spotting them?

she was curious about what he'd seen but given torchwood's history river isn't entirely certain if she wants some of the confirmation )

How much did you see?

[He has the feeling that she's not asking about the artifacts, as much as he'd like to hope so. Ianto raises his glass to take a fortifying sip before he replies:]

Well, I was originally hired by Yvonne at Torchwood One, before Canary Wharf, so.

[He glances back up at her and the expression in his eyes is hollow. Haunted. Shuttered.]

Enough, I should think.

( oh, that's... that's certainly making things more complicated. she knows enough about the battle of canary wharf, having caught mention of it in her readings of trailing the doctor's life that she's familiar with the majority of the details )

Daleks and Cybermen.

( her hand picks up her glass again but she doesn't yet move to drink from it )

I'm sorry.

Daleks and Cybermen.

[Ianto repeats, his words soft and a little hollow as he does. It's not the first time he's mentioned these aliens to someone in this place, but it's the first time he's done so to someone who might actually understand what it means, to have survived that battle.

He nods in response to her apology, looking down into the drink in his glass as he does so, before he continues:]

I haven't worked for Jack in Cardiff for nearly as long as I worked for Yvonne in London. If you know about the history of Torchwood Three, you might end up knowing more than I do.

I don't know much about your current events.

( does she? he'll never find out as river won't tell. it's an easy way to shift a little bit off the more uncomfortable topic )

I'm-- aware of Jack, though I hadn't met him before seeing him here.

( though with someone like jack, leaving their own tales in history's wake, how could you not be familiar? )

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