Ianto Jones (
torchwoodteaboy) wrote2010-11-17 03:21 am
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
[RL WITH SULU]
It'd been a week. A week since that first day that he'd come back from the hospital, and Sulu had had to help him around his flat. A week, most of which he'd spent in a sort of semi-conscious, fatigued and weary state, shuffling about trying to get the necessary things done, but only just succeeding. As Ianto sat on the edge of his bed, just having gotten up from what had been his second nap of the day, and not feeling any better after having taken it, the world spinning around him from having sat up too fast, even though he'd paced himself and been extra careful not to, Ianto had the sinking feeling that in that whole week, he hadn't gotten better at all. Sulu had stuck around until his leave had been up, like he said he would, and then once he'd left, Jack had popped in a few times during the day to help out with chores (he was surprisingly good at doing the dishes and the laundry) and then at night to lie with him (even if Jack didn't sleep and Ianto felt like he was wasting the other man's time). And yet. In that whole week, nothing had changed. Nothing had gotten better. And Ianto was getting sick and tired of being sick and tired, and Jack was great to have around, but. He didn't really understand what it was like to be ill, and sometimes that wore on Ianto even more than not having him around at all.
And now, as the sun was setting, and Jack was off on a sudden call to London, Gwen doing god knows what with Rhys, Ianto wasn't about to disturb their peace, it was all starting to get at Ianto. The darkness was creeping in, and he was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't getting better at all. That maybe he'd never get better. Maybe this was how things would be, from now on. Maybe the darkness really would come for him, because it didn't seem like it would ever really let him go again, and Ianto swallowed against the swell of panic rising in his stomach. He... He couldn't do this. He knew that he didn't want to bother Sulu. That he had specifically refrained from calling him out of the blue for anything since he'd left to go back to his ship, instead waiting for Sulu himself to make the first contact, but. He. He really needed someone there with him. Someone real. Someone who understood and could chase the demons away like he promised he would. And so Ianto did the only thing that he could think of to help, and pulled out his phone to dial the number to Sulu's comm.
And now, as the sun was setting, and Jack was off on a sudden call to London, Gwen doing god knows what with Rhys, Ianto wasn't about to disturb their peace, it was all starting to get at Ianto. The darkness was creeping in, and he was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't getting better at all. That maybe he'd never get better. Maybe this was how things would be, from now on. Maybe the darkness really would come for him, because it didn't seem like it would ever really let him go again, and Ianto swallowed against the swell of panic rising in his stomach. He... He couldn't do this. He knew that he didn't want to bother Sulu. That he had specifically refrained from calling him out of the blue for anything since he'd left to go back to his ship, instead waiting for Sulu himself to make the first contact, but. He. He really needed someone there with him. Someone real. Someone who understood and could chase the demons away like he promised he would. And so Ianto did the only thing that he could think of to help, and pulled out his phone to dial the number to Sulu's comm.
no subject
With a sigh, he flipped his comm open, halting the lift for a few moments to talk without being overheard by the crew. Just because Jim was on the community again didn't mean he wanted to let the man in on everything that was happening with him right now. "Ianto," he said, sounding put out and apologetic because he knew what Ianto wanted right then and there, and also that he had another four hours before his shift was over. "Really bad time, I'm just about to get back to the helm. I'm only halfway through my shift - I still have four more hours before I can take off."
no subject
"Right," Ianto said, his voice sounding strained even to his own ears. He felt so stupid, in that moment. To have all of his hopes riding on being able to ask Sulu to come down and just spend some time with him. Of course he had more important things to be doing, now that he was back on duty and everything. Sulu had told him that there would be times when he'd be busy, that there would be times when there would be no way for the two of them to get together. Ianto just really hadn't thought that it would end up being the time that he really needed the other man around the most. "Of course. I... Never mind. I'm sorry to bother you. F-forget I even called..."
no subject
Making excuses for himself? How childish was he? "I'm sorry, I really am. You're not bothering me, you really aren't. What's wrong?" Because he knew Ianto wouldn't have called without a reason, and now he felt even more awful for having jumped to excuses before asking. He seriously was an idiot.
no subject
He knew that he shouldn't feel so hurt. It wasn't Sulu's fault. He had a job to do. But. He couldn't think logically in that moment. All that he knew was that he needed Sulu to be there, and he wasn't going to be coming. "...I-I'm sorry," he said, his voice tight, fighting to hold back the sob that was wriggling its way up through his insides. He needed to end this call and fast. "You're... You've got a job to do, I... I won't keep you. I'm sorry I called. Goodbye," he said hastily, hanging up just before the wave of pain crashed over him. Sinking to sit huddled on the floor by the side of his bed, Ianto put his face in his hands, and cried.
no subject
Ianto hung up before Sulu could do any kind of reassuring; he almost called him back, but the timelock on the lift had run out and it shot up to the bridge, opening the doors before he could even do anything. He felt miserable, but he put on his usual attitude for the benefit of the rest of the crew, relieving the other helmsman before sliding into his seat. The worst part of it was, if there was no attack or sudden crisis, Sulu would have abandoned Ianto for four hours of nothing.
And that's exactly what it was. He'd hoped for a warbird to come out of nowhere, or for a crisis call to come in from one of the class M planets around them, but there was nothing, just space. The controls that normally made him feel so comfortable and at ease were just controls now, and the four hours dragged on for him. As soon as the Beta crew came in and he was relieved, Sulu was in the lift, taking it down with a few of the security members before veering off to his own room. He had no reason to change and so, as soon as he realized that he was alone, he shoved his hand in his pocket and pressed his fingers against the portkey, barely even stumbling as he went from one world to another, winding up somewhere in the hall. "Ianto?"
no subject
Luckily, Jack answered. And he did talk. He was obviously out of his league, trying to talk Ianto out of the mood he'd fallen into, but he actually did try, and Ianto had to give him credit for that. He suggested that Ianto take a bath, carefully, and Ianto did. And Jack called to make sure that he was alright afterward, which was nice of him. Suggested Ianto order out, put it on the company card, and so Ianto did. But in the end, Jack had a meeting to go to, and Ianto was once again left by himself in his lonely, miserable little flat, and he couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand any of it any more.
And so, four hours later, Ianto found himself sat in the back doorway of his flat, looking out on the garden that he shared with the flat next door, the lights in his kitchen burning bright, his lamp from the living room sitting on the floor next to him for added protection against the shadows in front of him. It was freezing, sitting there with the door open to the crisp November night air, and so Ianto had huddled himself in multiple blankets, and if someone were to look out at him, he probably looked like a lunatic, but he just didn't care anymore. He needed the sounds of the city, of the other people in the neighborhood around him, because if no one was there to keep him company specifically, at least he could comfort himself knowing that there were other people out there regardless.
It was also where he was sat when suddenly there were sounds coming from in his flat, and a voice calling out his name, and he nearly gave himself a heart attack right then and there, his nerves stretched very very tight and just barely hanging on, until he managed to recognize that it was Sulu's voice. But...what was he doing there? Ianto hesitated to call out to him, embarrassed and ashamed and his heart still aching from their very brief interaction earlier.
no subject
He wanted to grab Ianto and pull him inside, knowing the other man was already cold enough without needing the temperature from outside to get in, to apologize a thousand times over for being an ass, and then another thousand for having a really terrible work schedule that was out of his hands, but he really couldn't find the words or the energy to do either of those things. He felt suddenly very tired, from eight hours of busywork and idle chat while he'd felt horrible and from just seeing Ianto huddled in the door.
So, he settled for moving to the doorframe, crouching down and saying, "Hey." His voice sounded tight and unhappy and he wanted to try and change that, to be more upbeat and try and help Ianto out of whatever had happened these past few hours, but for all he knew, Ianto didn't want to even see him. He couldn't do optimistic at the moment. "Just got off duty."
no subject
"...you didn't have to come," he said, softly. "I... I'm an adult, and I should be fine spending the night by myself." He didn't say that he was fine, however. Because he wasn't. Obviously. Sitting huddled in the doorway of your garden with a lamp next to you on the floor and all of the lights in your flat on as bright as they can go, braving the cold so that you could just hear the sounds of other people existing... That really wasn't fine at all.
no subject
"I couldn't leave my post, you have to understand. I wanted to, but I couldn't. That's just not how it works." And now he felt like he was scolding Ianto, and he knew Ianto would feel the same way, so he quickly continued, "I wish it did, because I didn't want to wait four hours before I could come see you, and if I had any say I'd have been here before you'd even said a damned word. I even had the portkey in my pocket all day."
no subject
"It's fine," Ianto said, not moving from where he was sitting huddled in the darkness, not turning to look at Sulu or the ground or anything, just sitting there. "You don't have to explain yourself. I understand. You really shouldn't have to be available to come by and babysit me all the time. They needed you there. I..." He swallowed. "I should have known you were on duty then, anyway. I should never have called and interrupted that."
no subject
"There's no way you could have known. We don't even really know the time difference. And it's not babysitting you," he said firmly, "I'm not trying to make you do your homework or go to bed at a reasonable hour or anything like that. I want to be here for you. I'm sorry that I couldn't this time. It was bad timing for both of us, but I promised you that if I couldn't be there right away, I'd come down as soon as I could, and that's exactly what I did here." He looked out at the darkness, away from Ianto, and wrapped his arms loosely over his knees. This whole thing was a lot harder than he'd thought it would be.
no subject
"Yeah, you did," Ianto said, flatly. "And here you are. Exactly as promised..." And four hours too late. Sulu said that he wanted to be there, and yet it was still hard for Ianto to accept that he wasn't bothering the other man. He wanted the other man to want to be there with him, not for him. But that's what Sulu had said. Ianto felt all of the careful bandaging of his wounds that he'd done start to slip free again.
"You didn't have to rush, though," he said. "I... I was handling it on my own." Maybe not well, but. God, what was he even saying? He was happy that Sulu was there with him. He just... He wished, with all of his being, that he could have been there with him four hours ago, too. When he'd actually really needed him to be there with him. When there was a him to be there with and not just this hollow person that he felt like at the moment, sitting out in the dark, in the cold, alone, for longer than he'd care to admit.
no subject
But maybe he really didn't want Sulu there, even if he was handling it badly. Maybe he wanted to be alone. Sulu closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his arms, taking in the cold air around them. He knew he wasn't going to be able to handle this for long, not without some kind of communication, and he should have called before coming down and seen if Ianto had even wanted him around. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Do you want me to go?" he asked, dreading the answer because if Ianto said yes, he wanted Sulu to go, he might not know what to do with himself.
no subject
He lowered his eyes, finally moving, huddling himself further into the blankets. God, he was freezing. How long had he been sitting out there, anyway? He didn't even know any more. He had very little concept of time, since he'd made the call. He looked at his watch, but it really didn't help, save to let him know how long it had been since calling in the first place. "I... I want you here. I just. Four hours ago, I needed you here, and. You couldn't come." He sighed. "I really should have expected that, anyway. I should have known that because I needed you here, you couldn't come. That's so typical of the way that everything seems to work with me, lately..."
no subject
He cut himself off before he could finish his thought, abruptly enough that it didn't even sound as though he was contemplating saying a single word more, that he'd almost said "get over it and take it where you can," because that was wrong and it was just his petty, irritable side coming out. And he wanted to keep that from Ianto for as long as he could, damn it.
He pushed himself up and stood in front of Ianto, looking down at him with tired eyes. "It's freezing out here," he said, wondering if Ianto had even noticed. He was so cold already, nowadays...
no subject
"Yeah," Ianto said, after a moment, his voice a lot more raw than it had been moments ago. "It is, isn't it?"
no subject
"We should go inside," he said, quietly and sadly but firmly, because there was no way they were going to be able to talk like this. Not now. He couldn't help but look past Ianto, into the kitchen, remembering how they'd been a little awkward but relatively upbeat, forcing strange teas on a sick Jack, and it made him ache. He hadn't even seen Ianto smile, not more than a little, since... "I can make something to eat, or help you upstairs." Those were the only options Sulu could even see, and he wondered for just a second if those were going to be the only options from now on. He swiped the thought away, but he knew it'd come back. One thing at a time, though.
no subject
He didn't like this feeling. Everything was starting to well up inside of him, and he didn't want to let it out, but he was going to have to. And he'd never been this tense around Sulu before, and he hated it. He hated that he was bringing out all of these negative sides of the man, that he was bringing him down with him as well. He didn't want to eat. He didn't want to lie down. He didn't know what he wanted, though. He couldn't think straight. And Sulu just didn't sound like himself, and it hurt, because he knew that it was all because of him. Tears sprang to his eyes and he clenched them shut to keep them at bay, their presence making it impossible for him to find his voice to really say anything in response to Sulu's offer.
no subject
When Ianto didn't respond other than to shake his head, Sulu closed his eyes and counted to ten mentally, opening his eyes again before stepping past Ianto to get into the flat. "If you sit out there for any longer, you're going to get colder than you already are," he said flatly, trying to school his voice into something calmer, less anxious and ragged than it wanted to be. He realized he'd failed, but damn it, damn it, he couldn't take that back, either, and the part of him that was irritated and tired and secretly terrified that this was all Ianto was ever going to be had won out.
no subject
Ianto couldn't move, couldn't will himself to get up and follow Sulu into the kitchen, couldn't make himself stand and pretend that everything was alright because it clearly wasn't, and maybe he'd be able to pretend later but he'd just spent the day to himself alone and aching and so bloody terrified that keeping up appearances would be nothing more than a sick joke. Unbidden, a sob worked its way up through Ianto's chest, and before he had any control over what it was doing, strangled, muffled against his knees but audible nonetheless, it ripped it's way up his throat and through his mouth. Ianto brought his hands to his face, covering it as another sob started to work its way out from where the first one came.
no subject
"God, damn it, Ianto, I'm so sorry," he said, falling right back into the apologizing that he hadn't wanted to do before. "I didn't. I'm so sorry I wasn't here when you needed me and I'm sorry I'm here now when I can't help you. I'm sorry for the attitude." He was sorry for more than that, but he kept it to himself, not willing to tell Ianto just how sorry he was, not yet.
no subject
He wanted to tell Sulu that it wasn't his fault. That he understood, and he was sorry for blaming him. That he knew it was out of both of their control, and that it was just chance, and they'd just drawn a bad card today. That he was just having a bad day and that it was alright because tomorrow would have to be better, right? But he couldn't, because there were parts of him that did blame Sulu, there were parts of him that were convinced that this was it, and that they might not even have this for long, that things might get worse, that he might be taken again, and it scared him so much. Ianto shifted, leaning forward toward Sulu, not moving a lot, but enough to press his forehead against Sulu's chest, one of his hands reaching out to grip at Sulu's shirt, holding on as if it was his last lifeline, the other still clenched, covering his face, as he sobbed into his knees, leaning against Sulu's solid warm presence in front of him.
no subject
"Shh," he murmured, shifting as close as their positions would allow, moving a hand to hold Ianto's, letting his grip stay as tight as he wanted on his shirt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get short with you. It's going to be okay, I'm... I'm not going to keep failing you like this, I swear."
no subject
Ianto wanted nothing more in that moment than to reach forward and wrap himself in Sulu's arms and just stay there until he felt better, but that would mean he needed to pick himself up, and he couldn't. The force of his emotions left him huddled in on himself there, clutching at whatever support he could get from the other man in front of him.
no subject
"I'm not upset because of you," he repeated, resigned but firm. "I'm upset because I can't do anything, and that. It's. ...I hate that I can't help you. I hate it. And I let myself take that out on you and that is my fault, that has nothing to do with you or how you're feeling. You have every right to be angry at me, because I'm being the worst kind of person in the world just because I feel useless."
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(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)
(no subject)
(no subject)