torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH SULU]

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[RL WITH SULU]

The past few days had been exciting ones, and definitely not in the way that Ianto would have predicted them to be when he'd first set foot on the boat. They should have known that there would be something wrong with this, but how were they to know that Sulu saying that nothing could go wrong after what they'd accomplished on the first night would come back to quite literally haunt them, as it were? Because there really was no denying it anymore. There'd been enough talk about what else had going on in other people's cabins enough to know that it wasn't just their suite. The whole ship was buzzing about it, and though everyone was reporting different things happening, there was really no doubt about it. Regardless of whatever was causing it, the place was haunted.

Ianto'd tried ignoring it. He'd tried rationalizing it, and any other number of things to keep from admitting that what they had were ghosts on their hands. There was really just no denying it anymore. What had started out as objects moving every once and a while, and strange sounds in the night had turned a lot more active over the next few nights, the hot water switching itself off as Ianto was showering, their suitcases emptied out all over the suite while they slept. Ianto'd made sure that the door had been locked each time, and had even taken to sleeping with the key in his shorts pocket, but it wasn't any use. The door hadn't been opening to let anyone in--whatever was happening in the suite, it wasn't coming from the outside.

What had started out as them trying to make the best of their vacation had ended up with, well, at least Ianto being very wary of his surroundings, and of what could possibly go wrong with them. As much as he'd like to initiate something more with Sulu, the idea that they would be watched while they did was...more than a little bit of a turn-off. He hoped that Sulu understood, as it was.

Sulu, for his part, seemed to be taking this whole ghost thing pretty hard. Because paranormal things were sort of right up Ianto's alley, considering that he worked for Torchwood and all, he was trying his hardest to be a good Torchwood officer, keep a level head for the other man, and not freak out at anything that might have otherwise given him pause. Sulu hadn't admitted to being frightened of these ghosts, but. Ianto could tell that he was definitely a lot less comfortable with the thought of them being around than even Ianto himself was. It was almost nice, to be able to be there for Sulu like he had to be because of these hauntings. Almost.

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One night wasn't enough for Sulu, who had actually really liked the whole cruise ship thing. He could have even tolerated the footsteps. They still would have gotten the early part of the evenings to be alone. But no. Sometimes, he had to wonder if just being in Starfleet led to all these simple things going horribly wrong.

Sulu allowed himself to be indignant about the whole thing for a brief moment as Ianto dressed him, but then felt nothing but grateful. After all, he wasn't sure he could do it himself, and he needed all his wits for this next part. But when Ianto kissed him, he really just wanted to stay in the bathroom. It wasn't so bad. They could sleep on the floor.

"Jack'll love that," Sulu said sourly, before leaning to rest his forehead against Ianto's shoulder, taking a minute to run through all the various ways he would love to use to piss that damned ghost off. "I'm going to take you to an alien planet to make up for this," he said finally, leaning back and, surprisingly, staying steady on his feet. "Yeah, I'm ready. We should do it before I black out, or something."

As Sulu leaned his head against Ianto's shoulder, Ianto brought a hand up to gently rest on the back of his neck. His fingers were cool, both because the room was and always had been on the chilly side, and also because they got like that, when he was tense. He hoped it felt good, for that moment at least. "Yeah, well. Jack can stuff it. If he doesn't think that I need a vacation after continuously being put through things like these, he can just fire me," Ianto said, knowing full well that Jack would never do such a thing. He straightened as Sulu did too, watching him for any signs of swaying. None? So far, so good.

Ianto frowned at his words, though. Maybe Sulu only meant them in jest, maybe he didn't, Ianto really didn't know how Sulu felt, whether that might be a possibility or not. If it was, though...best not take their chances, and do as Sulu asked instead. Ianto led them carefully to the door, opening it and peering out. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Nothing flew at them as Ianto led them a cautious step out into the bedroom. Well, so far so good. Now what? He turned and looked at Sulu, his eyes searching. If he really didn't feel up to this, they could turn right around and just hide out in the bathroom for the rest of the night, it was safe enough. But he had to say the word now, or otherwise... The sooner they started this whole thing, the sooner they'd (hopefully) get out of there.

Sulu himself had no idea whether or not he was going to pass out, but instead of worrying about it, he pushed the thought from his mind and followed Ianto's tentative steps into the room. Everything seemed fine. Nothing lashed out, and for a moment, Sulu wondered if the thing was even still in there.

But, then again, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight, and that wasn't from the cold room. Taking a breath, he grabbed Ianto's hand - for show and for support - and moved them both forward another step. "Are you still in here?" he called, and when he heard a soft thud, like something being set down on the carpet, he said, "What, are you scared now? Realized that you're out of your league with Ianto here?" He managed, somehow, to fit disdain into his tone - an emotion he'd never so much as felt before. Luckily, he'd heard it enough around the Academy to know how to imitate it. Hopefully that would be enough.

It apparently was, as a lamp on top of the dresser shuddered, like it was about to lash out at them. Sulu hoped he could dodge it.

Contrary to the movement of the lamp, though, it was actually Ianto's shaving kit, right next to it, that the ghost chose to toss at them next. Although not as damaging as a decanter, the thing would pack a pretty good punch. Ianto hurriedly tugged Sulu away from the trajectory of the thing, pulling him closer to himself as he watched the bag crash into the wall, spilling its contents onto the floor beside them.

"He's right," Ianto said, deciding to help with the goading. The goal was to keep it angry at just Sulu, so that at least one of them would be relatively safe from it, but he could still egg it on. "I've already got people that I care for. People...people much more alive than you."

That's when the lamp was sent crashing in their direction, Ianto barely having enough time to propel them far enough away from the the trajectory of both the lamp base and the electric chord attached to it that whipped out in their direction obviously not of its own accord. The drawers to the dresser rattled ominously, shifting a little in their tracks. Well. Apparently this insulting thing was working, at least?

Sulu stepped with Ianto, thankfully refraining from stumbling as the shaving kit slammed into the wall. Yeah, that was definitely hitting a sore spot. Ianto didn't necessarily need to help, no, but the more things it threw at them, the better chance they had of something heavy getting thrown when they were near the door.

At least, that was what Sulu was hoping. "Much more alive," Sulu said, sounding more than a little cocky - something he'd felt before, sure, but most of it was mimicking Jim at this point - "And, you know. More handsome. Two of us, even," he added, talking a bit fast out of the inherent fear as he moved towards the sitting room, "So you're really out of luck. I mean, who would like a ghost flirting with them when they're already involved with handsome, living, warm people?"

The mirror that had fallen on the first night, still on the floor where they'd left it, suddenly moved, hurled at them from the sitting area, but Sulu knew they couldn't go back towards the bathroom, so he pulled Ianto with him as he dropped to the ground to avoid being hit.

Ianto landed on the carpet abruptly as Sulu pulled him down, thankfully not on top of the other man. That's all they needed--to escape the ghost's attempts to hurt the other man only to end up doing it himself. Luckily, thanks to Sulu's efforts, the mirror missed them completely. But the dresser drawers started shifting more violently, opening and closing with much more force than before. Ianto scrambled to his feet, dragging Sulu with him and propelling them out the doorway into the sitting room just in time for the dresser to launch itself forward very, very abruptly, all of the drawers flying at where they might have been a second ago.

"Shit," Ianto said. He was breathing hard, absolutely freaked out by this point. So far, it was working, but how many times could they successfully escape these things before they got it riled up enough to toss the sofa or the desk? They were headed on the right track, but it would probably be best if they just headed for a grand finale of sorts.

"Never mind the flirting," Ianto said, gripping Sulu's arm tightly as he edged them towards the door, standing in front of it. "You're dead. You're not solid. There's no chance in hell you have something that I don't already have. Besides, being a ghost and all, you most certainly can't do this..." he said, turning and looking at Sulu, giving him a look that he hoped conveyed the fact that he had to do something to make the ghost very, very jealous of him, and that they were almost certainly going to be in a lot of danger shortly thereafter.

Sulu kept a tight grip on Ianto's arm, just as freaked as the other man but - well. He was determined to get them through this, to get them out of here by any means necessary, and he couldn't help but feel a bit cocky now that he knew the ghost was so easy to rile.

As Ianto grabbed him and started moving towards the door, Sulu followed, watching as practically everything around them shuddered and shook as they passed, like the ghost couldn't decide what to hurl at them next. Ianto's words and the look in his eyes made Sulu want to grin with a bit of malicious glee - and then he reached up and cupped both of Ianto's cheeks in his hands, pulling him in for a passionate kiss. It was the kind of kiss that really wasn't supposed to happen in front of company, or even while clothed, but that was sort of the point.

Still kissing Ianto, Sulu moved a hand from Ianto's cheek and flipped off the room as a whole, because he won. No matter what happened then and there, he won.

And then he was being grabbed by the back of the neck by something with supernatural strength and was then sent crashing through the heavy wood door backwards. Sulu, at least, managed to wrap his arms around his head to try and prevent more damage as he passed through splintered wood and landed with a painful thud in the ship's hall.

Ianto manages to kiss Sulu back, just to put on a show, for a few moments, because why not go full out in pissing this thing off. Apparently, that backfired, though, when suddenly Sulu was ripped away from him and sent flying through the really quite sturdy and heavy wooden door backwards. Ianto shot a terrified look around the room, and all but threw himself after the other man, through the wrecked door. "Oh my god," he stammered, kneeling down beside Sulu. "Oh god. Oh hell. Christ..."

Without even thinking, and only checking to see that Sulu was still breathing and conscious, he grabbed him around the chest with both hands and pulled him upwards, only able to do so through the sheer strength of his terror. As soon as they were around corner though, Ianto let go of him, moving to get him to sit on the ground and focusing on the man in front of him. "Shit. Here. Sit down, sit." The man who was terrified of ghosts, and had just been thrown through a door by one, after having been concussed by it only a couple of dozen minutes earlier. "Christ, Sulu, are you alright?" Are you alright sounded like a stupid question, actually. He was pretty sure Sulu wasn't alright just from looking at him. But it was all he could think of asking, his brain on autopilot.

Sulu had recognized the series of events that had led to him being pulled up by Ianto; he knew that he'd been thrown through the door, that his shoulder was killing him, his arm was limp and his head was throbbing as bad as before. But - he couldn't quite piece it all together, not clearly. It was a blur of noise and pain and Ianto's voice, and while he liked the last part, he wished the rest of it would come into better focus.

Ianto told Sulu to sit, and he did, groaning as he tried to focus. His head... wasn't faring very well tonight, it seemed, but he hadn't hit it - just his shoulder, his arms, his back. Oh, jeeze, his back. He was going to be so stiff... "Ianto," he mumbled, reaching with the arm that worked, touching the other's shoulder and grinning blearily up at him, "It's... okay." He paused. It'd be better if they could kiss again, but. For now, he'd just close his eyes and lean his head gently against the wall.

"Like bloody hell, it's okay!" Ianto exclaimed. He was not going to calm down. He was going to freak out, now that he had the opportunity to do so. Now that they were away from that room and whatever it was that had been terrorizing them inside of it. "You just got tossed through a door, and you're telling me that it's okay? Shit, man." He ran a hand through his hair, trying to get himself to remember how to breathe properly again. He really didn't like how Sulu'd shut his eyes right after that statement.

"What... What happened? Did...hell, please don't tell me you hit your head again," he continued. That's all he needed, Sulu getting a brain hemorrhage or something from all of this. He noted (somewhat belatedly, but that was because he was too busy panicking to think straight) the way Sulu's one arm just...didn't quite look right. "Is... God. You're going to have to talk to me here. I... I can't just assess the damage by sight. I'm nowhere close to being a doctor, I need to know how bad things are, here..."

Sulu's mind went blank for a moment or two as Ianto talked, just... idling, really. He didn't open his eyes when Ianto shouted, and he didn't open them when he asked to know what was wrong. He was tired. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to sleep, not for a while, not with a head injury like the one he had, but he could pretend for a minute, couldn't he?

He groaned again. "No, I... didn't. Don't think so, at least." He grimaced. "Think my shoulder's dislocated. My head's killing me." He squinted at Ianto, "I feel like I got thrown through a door." He didn't think Ianto knew what that felt like, but it bore emphasizing. "The adrenaline wore off somewhere around the time I broke through the wood," he added, "So now I'm. Tired."

Ianto didn't know what it felt to be thrown through a door, dislocating your shoulder in the process, no. But he did know what it felt like to have part of a building collapse in on you, dislocating your shoulder in the process, so he could definitely sympathize with Sulu, there. Ianto lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm... God, I am so sorry." He looked up at Sulu, bringing a shaking hand up to gently brush against Sulu's cheek, before, sitting forward and pressing a kiss against his forehead. "I... We wanted to piss it off, to have it throw something through that door, but. It... It wasn't supposed to be you. It really wasn't..."

"I..." Ianto bit his lip, taking a moment to try and pull himself together. "Your shoulder. It's... It's going to need to be reset. Unless you really want to leave it like that. I'm... I'm not sure where we might be able to find a doctor on this place, and well. That is. I know how to do it. If... If you want me to, that is. Dislocated my own enough to know how it's done..."

Sulu leaned into the hand, then the kiss, head rolling easily with the motions. The muscles of his neck were lax, he was too tired to really keep his head upright. "It's not your fault," he said with a half smile, "I flipped it off." And he'd liked it. God, he would go back in there and taunt that ghost all he could if he wasn't feeling like shit.

"Ugh. No, let's not leave it like this," he said after a minute or two of silence, opening his eyes and tilting his head back again, "I've dislocated it once before. Fencing match. He cheated." He paused, "I won. You can do it, it'll be easier." Besides, part of him thought, delirious, it would be fair payback for having to set Ianto's nose as a teenager.

Ianto kept his hand on Sulu's cheek, not moving it for a few moments for fear that if he let go, he just might send Sulu toppling over, he seemed so unsteady in that moment. He bit his lip again, stroking Sulu's cheek with his thumb for a few moments, before nodding. He didn't have to question whether Sulu's shoulder was dislocated or not. One look at it, seeing as how the other man wasn't wearing a shirt, was enough to be able to tell.

"You might have flipped it off, but it was me that it was trying to defend. Me that it had taken an interest in. If... If that hadn't happened, then maybe we could've spent the last night there in relative peace. And not... Not with you like this. I... God, I've said it already, but. Really. I am so sorry about all of this. I... I really owe you. Seriously, anything. Just name your price, I'll gladly do it for you."

Ianto shifted, moving to sit beside Sulu, instead of in front of him, moving to gently take the hand of the injured arm in his, bending it up so that Sulu's arm made a 90 degree angle, between the forearm and upper arm. He stroked the back of Sulu's hand, knowing that this was going to probably hurt a lot, but make Sulu feel a lot better after he'd done it. "Are you ready for this?" Ianto asked, knowing that no one was really ready for pain, but asking anyway.

"Of course it took an interest in you," Sulu said with a small laugh, "You're gorgeous. Who wouldn't?" He opened his eyes, forcing them to stay open as he locked them with Ianto's. Warp core blue. He smiled through the pain of his head and shoulder, just relieved to be out of that damned room.

"All I want," he said after a moment of serious consideration, "Is a quiet night on your couch with a really terrible 21st century vid. Got it?" Ianto was holding his arm, now, and he knew what was coming. He took a deep breath, then said, "Yeah," exhaling slowly.

Ianto shook his head, smiling slightly at Sulu, at his complimenting him despite the fact that he was so horribly banged up from their night with the ghost and all. "Keep saying things like that, Lieutenant Sulu, and I might just start to believe you about it, one of these days..." Ianto's self-esteem was pretty good at the moment, but. Being comfortable in his own skin and thinking that he was gorgeous were two different things entirely.

Ianto bit his lip, nodding at Sulu's request. "I think I can more than handle that, yeah," he said, in response to it. If something like that really would make up for something like this, that is. Ianto wasn't really quite sure how it would, but if it was what Sulu wanted, then he really wasn't going to question it. Ianto stroked the back of Sulu's hand with his thumb one more time, before putting a hand on his wrist, the other hand on his elbow. "Just try to relax, alright?" he asked, knowing that that was near impossible, but that tensing up would just hurt him more. "3," he started counting, as he slowly rotated Sulu's arm against his body, "2, 1..." And Sulu's shoulder popped back into place where it should've been.

Relaxing was what the breath was for - the breath that was ripped out of his lungs in a painful yelping shout as Ianto slipped his shoulder back into its socket. A painful, almost burning sensation ran through the joint and Sulu immediately clenched both fists - something he could do now that his arm was back in place.

Gasping a bit, he slumped against the wall fully, opening his eyes to look at Ianto. "All better," he said woozily, "And. I mean it, Ianto. You're gorgeous and I want a night on your couch." And his bed, too, but. All in due time. "And... sleep. I really want to sleep."

Ianto was feeling unusually tactile, and though he didn't want to hurt Sulu, he wanted to touch him, to feel his warmth under his hands, to know that the other man was still there and that he was there for him as well. "I know," he said, moving Sulu's arm across his chest, as close to a sling position as he could get it, without a sling or anything to construct one out of available. He really just wanted to hold Sulu for a very long time, let him rest, let him recuperate, keep an eye on him the whole while, but he knew that that was a very bad idea at the moment.

"I know you're tired. I'm sorry," he repeated. Apologizing was becoming something of a mantra for him, it would seem. "You've had a big night. You can't go to sleep, though. Not... Not here, at least." Ianto wanted to get them as far as he could away from that room, first. "If... If we can find somewhere...like a couch or something, then. Well, I'll have to wake you up every once and a while, but. That... That should be alright." He smiled slightly at the other man, though he was unable to keep the worrying out of his eyes. "It won't be a night on my couch, I'm afraid, but it'll be something, yeah?" He put a hand on Sulu's knee, rubbing it gently. "Think you can stand up so we can go find somewhere like that?"

Sulu couldn't help but enjoy the contact between him and Ianto, couldn't help but want it just as much as the other man. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to get up, he didn't care about how close they were to the ghost and their room. All he wanted was to sleep and have Ianto near him. And, well. Maybe some painkillers, but that could wait until tomorrow. God, would they even be here tomorrow? What was going to happen after this?

He felt Ianto's hand on his knee and sighed. Could he stand up? He hoped so. He'd been clocked with a blunt crystal object and thrown through a door - anything was possible tonight. Including standing. "...All right," he said slowly, "I... You're going to have to help me up." Earlier in the night, he'd felt terrible asking for help, but now? Now it was old hat, something he could do without a thought. He needed Ianto's help, Ianto wanted to help him - it was the only option.

"Yeah, sure," Ianto said, standing up, moving to grasp Sulu's good arm, bracing his feet so he wouldn't fall over as well, depending on how much help Sulu was actually going to be, there. He liked that Sulu hadn't sounded embarrassed in asking for help. He very sincerely wanted to help in any way that he could, and the fact that Sulu was willing accepting that felt good, although he had to wonder if maybe the accepting had less to do with how comfortable Sulu was with him helping and more to do with how bad off the other man was.

"Alright, on three, yeah?" he said, before counting aloud and tugging Sulu upright. He kept a firm grip on his wrist, in case he wasn't quite steady on his feet anymore. Ianto hadn't really been paying attention while he'd dragged him this far down the hallway, he'd been more preoccupied with getting them away than anything else.

Ianto moved a hand to rub Sulu's back, gently because he knew he'd been thrown through the door on it, so it was probably sore, but more for the comforting motion than anything else (although who he was trying to comfort with it, Ianto wasn't exactly sure). "We're out of the room. There's no need to rush anything anymore. We're going to take our time in finding somewhere to wait out the rest of the night, okay? Don't push yourself too hard," Ianto fretted. "Shall we then? I want to get as far away from this place as we can, honestly."

Keeping his previously dislocated arm close to his chest, Sulu gripped Ianto's arm and used their combined weight to haul himself to his feet, a few joints in his back popping and cracking painfully. He groaned and staggered forward a bit, holding tight to Ianto, and then leaned in against him, closing his eyes. Oh, yeah, that had hurt. "Remind me," he said slowly, head throbbing and back aching, "Never to get thrown through a door again." At least on the Enterprise, he wouldn't have to worry about that, all the doors opened for him. He laughed a bit.

"Don't worry," he said, taking a few steps while holding on to Ianto, moving them slowly down the corridor, away from the room. "I'm not taking anything faster than this. I've had a busy night." He winced, realizing that he'd probably scraped his knee against the denim - thankfully, it was only his knee - as it ached as he stepped. "I hate the community," he said idly. "Really I do. It does one good thing and a hundred miserable ones."

Ianto ran his hand over Sulu's back a little more at Sulu's statement, feeling horrible for him. Somehow, Ianto himself had managed to escape injury free, but he was usually the one to end up in Sulu's position, so he could definitely feel for the other man. "I'll see to it that you aren't, as long as I'm around," Ianto said, meaning it. "I'd ask that you do the same for me too, though. I...don't think I'd've been able to do it nearly as gracefully as you."

Ianto stuck close to Sulu's side, willingly offering him any sort of support that he needed. "I would question there being anything good about this community whatsoever, but. It's how I met you, so. I guess it's not all that bad." He turned his head to look at Sulu, smiling a little. "Could do without these viruses, though. I have enough excitement in my life, without haunted cruise ships and obsessive ghosts and the likes. That quiet night in is sounding really good, right about now," he said, honestly.

Sulu laughed a little at that. "Graceful? I don't know if you can actually get thrown through a door gracefully." He looked at Ianto, cheerful despite everything that had happened. Now that he was out of the room and allowed to safely take stock of everything that had happened, he was able to calm down relatively quickly. All of the anger and terror and adreneline was gone, which left him feeling fairly zenlike. It was scarily similar to how he'd felt when fighting the Romulans on top of the drill, actually.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm pretty sure we can't say nothing good happens on the community any more." Because it was true; for all the terrible things it put them through, for all the bad things that resulted because of it, Sulu had met Ianto, and that was all he needed to know that there was some inherent good in the system.

There was a sudden shift in the way everything around them looked; Sulu hooked his arm with Ianto's to keep himself balanced. He wasn't sure if it was his head or not that was making everything seem... off, somehow. He quickly realized, however, that it wasn't him at all, but the ship itself, that was appearing strange, as they turned a corner to go towards the common area of their deck - and suddenly they weren't on the ship at all. Sulu blinked a few times, frowning, holding on to Ianto. "...Am I hallucinating, or...?"

Ianto noticed something was very strange when he started seeing the ship contorting around them. Sulu's clinging to him let him know that he wasn't the only one who was seeing this. For a moment, Ianto was convinced that the entire ship was going to...who knows, swallow them up in one huge, frightening attempt to make them miserable, but then he blinked, and looked around, and realized. "...we're in my flat," Ianto said. And they were. Standing in the middle of his entryway, their two suitcases standing neatly beside them in the hallway.

He turned to Sulu, looking at him closely. The cut on his head had disappeared, and so had the bite mark on his shoulder. Ianto reached out to touch Sulu's temple, and his hand met clear, uninjured skin. "You're... It's gone. How... I guess the virus wore off. How do you feel?" he asked, not letting go of Sulu's arm quite just yet. They'd never been conscious for a shift like that, before. It was entirely possible that there might be some sort of side effects to staying conscious for the instant reheal, for all Ianto knew.

Sulu'd thought the place looked familiar, and now that Ianto had told him, he could recognize everything. That was... That was just weird. His headache was staring to subside, but there was still a low throb in area he'd been hit. His arm, though, that felt fine - a little stiff, but he figured that made sense. He looked at Ianto, frowning thoughtfully. "I feel okay," he said, "Head hurts a little, still, but it's not nearly as bad as before. And... my shoulder feels fine. My back, my knee - everything's fine."

He reached up to put a hand to his head, pulling Ianto's away before feeling around himself. He was fine, there was no laceration, no concussion - but his hand pulled away a little bloody. So, the injuries were gone, but not the rest of it. That was... weird. "I guess that's... how things work? I've never been up when a virus ended." He'd always thought they went on until you fell asleep on the last day. He wondered what time it even was - what day. "That's so weird." He blinked, then smiled at Ianto and said, "But, at least there are no ghosts here."

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