torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH SULU]

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[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.

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Ianto relaxed into Sulu's arms around him, allowing himself to accept the support the other man was giving him because...why not. He was offering, and Ianto was feeling like he needed all the help he could get in that moment. He shrugged at Sulu's questioning him, though. "It could've been worse," he said, mildly. Though honestly, it had been pretty trying. More so than usual. Probably something to do with the fact that he'd been up and down them several times on his own that day, which had been tiring work.

After he took a moment, he leaned back and gave Sulu a slight smile, trying his hardest not to start shivering again. He missed the blankets already, and it'd only been a few minutes without them. "Alright, well. Shall we, then?" he asked, nodding towards the bathroom, his smile turning a little sheepish. Despite how embarrassing and exhausting the stairs had been, he was looking forward to this next part.

Edited 2010-11-20 07:36 (UTC)

At least Ianto wasn't letting the question get him down; Sulu had worried that he might've put another dent in their relatively upbeat mood at the moment. "Good," he said, smiling and nodding at Ianto's question. Of course they should; he could feel Ianto starting to shiver again, and he wanted to help him keep as warm as possible. Besides, they would be together, and he was sincerely hoping that he wouldn't say anything to ruin whatever mood taking a bath with Ianto could have.

Taking Ianto's arm again, he lead him to the bathroom, making an effort to not physically help Ianto unless he needed it. He didn't want to give off the impression that he thought Ianto needed his help, that was for sure. "Do you want to trust me with the tap this time, or do you not want to risk me making the water too hot or too cold for you?"

Ianto stood back and gave Sulu a small smile. "I think I can trust you with the taps. It's pretty straightforward, after all, you should be able to manage. C is for cold, and H is for hot, and all. And you don't even have to exert yourself and switch on the shower. It's really just as simple as that." Alright, so Ianto was being a little bit dry with his humor. He hoped Sulu didn't mind too much, though he did back off a little once he realized how he was being.

"Honestly, just make it a temperature that's comfortably warm for you. I'm so cold that anything above room temperature is going to feel pretty hot, so. It'll take some adjusting, regardless. ...warm for you, though. If it starts to get hot by your standards, then it'll definitely be hot by mine, and all." He smiled, this time a bit more sincerely. "D'you think you can handle that?"

Sulu couldn't find it in him to be offended by Ianto's dry humor at the moment, because honestly, it was true. Sulu wasn't familiar with the tap, and he'd made that clear the first time they'd showered together, so he figured he deserved a little teasing. "Okay, okay," he groused, smiling to show that he wasn't offended in the slightest, "Yeah, I think I've got it."

Leading Ianto into the bathroom, Sulu moved away from him to contemplate the tap, plugging the tub before twisting the dials until the water was (what he hoped to be) comfortably hot for the both of them. He quietly held back the vague feeling of accomplishment, embarrassed that something so simple could make him feel good. But, then again, he only ever had to press a few buttons and all the guesswork was taken care of. "See? I've got it covered. You just have to let me know when you want me to turn it off."

Ianto moved to sit down on the toilet lid, not really wanting to stay standing nor feeling all that comfortable standing there watching Sulu. He smiled at Sulu's obvious sense of accomplishment in having gotten the taps working properly. "I see you have," he said, in response. "Well done, there." He wasn't being mean about it, though. He thought it was honestly pretty charming that Sulu was just learning about all of these things that were commonplace in the 21st century. Like tub taps, and radiators, and the sorts. "You're going to turn into a regular old historian, if you keep spending enough time around here in the 21st century," he mused.

As for the tub, though. "I'd say...fill it up three fourth's of the way? There needs to be enough room at the top so that the two of us in there don't displace enough water to make the thing overflow, but. I'd prefer to be able to have it as full as we can get it before that point, so there's more water to soak in, yeah?"

Sulu blushed a little, embarrassed that he was so transparent, and turned to check on the water temperature before sitting on the edge of the tub. He knew that Ianto was being sincere with his comments, so at least he didn't feel like he was being completely mocked. That was something, he thought wryly. "I'm not opposed to that," he said with good humor in his voice, "It seems like sticking around here doesn't have any cons, so long as you don't mind me getting overly excited about things."

He nodded at Ianto's instructions for the water level; if he wanted as much in it as possible, then that's what he would get. And he knew, also, that they were going to have to undress before too long - and then he wondered how awkward this really was going to be. It was one thing to take a bath with someone; it was another to soak in a bath with them. He figured that they would just have to deal with it as they went, and with any luck, Ianto would feel better after they were through.

Ianto smiled at Sulu's comment about being excited about things. "I don't mind in the least," he said. "At least you have a reason to be excited about it all. Jack's been here for ages, and he still gets all worked up about some really pretty common, everyday things. Like... Like kitchen appliances, and the likes. You should have heard his ranting once he encountered an ice maker for the first time. He was absolutely hopeless with it. Couldn't figure out how to make it work, then couldn't figure out how to switch it to the option he wanted, and then never let us hear the end of it afterward. You're much better behaved at not understanding things, believe me."

Ianto realized that they were going to have to get undressed pretty soon as well, and that that would be when things started to get more awkward with this situation. Which was one of the reasons he was putting off taking off his clothes for as long as he could until the bath was ready. The other reason being that it was cold and he really didn't fancy sitting around naked while he waited for the tub to fill up.

Sulu grinned and ducked his head, laughing a bit at the idea of Jack having trouble with anything, and then not letting anybody forget it. "I just won't touch anything in the kitchen. Then, I've got nothing to worry about." After all, he wasn't too good with cooking in his own time - in Ianto's, he was probably hopeless. Sandwiches, he figured, weren't a great gauge.

"I try not to make an ass out of myself, anyway," he said, looking back up at Ianto before checking the water level. It definitely wouldn't be much longer, but he knew why Ianto wasn't getting ready to undress; it was the same reason he wasn't. He knew that once they were in the tub, everything would probably go fine, since they were fairly good at dealing with situations once they were settled, but... First, yeah, they had to be awkward. With an internal sigh, Sulu resigned himself to the fact that this was going to be more than a little strange, and decided to start getting ready for the inevitable. Reaching for the hem of his uniform top and undershirt, he pulled them off without thinking any more about it. They'd have to go at some point, anyway.

Edited 2010-11-20 09:39 (UTC)

Ianto smiled at Sulu's comment. "I'm pretty sure that no one really tries to put themselves in that sort of a situation, really. It just sort of happens, regardless." He turned his eyes to the floor, smiling as he thought about Sulu struggling to learn about modern, 21st century technology. "Tell you what, though. I'll make it a point to make sure that you know about whatever it is that you're using before you have to use it, so you're not making an ass of...yourself..."

Ianto stumbled through his words because it was right at the end of his sentence that he chose to look up again at Sulu, and realized that he was no longer wearing any shirt. Ianto must have been really out of it, not to even notice when the other man had taken it off, but there it was, in his hand, with his undershirt off too, and Ianto hadn't been able to help himself from being thrown off his train of thought by that. Pleasantly so. Ianto hadn't been kidding when he said that he thought Sulu was fit, and despite really not being up for anything physical at the moment, Ianto's brain stuttered for a few moments, very much attracted to the other man.

Sulu hadn't even thought about it as he'd taken off his shirt; he was so used to people just bypassing him in various states of undress that Ianto's sudden stammering took him by surprise. Ianto's expression, though, spoke volumes for how side-swept the other man was, and it made Sulu grin bashfully and duck his head, tossing his shirts into the corner by the door. "Sorry," he said, embarrassed and flattered at Ianto's reaction. It was... He had to admit, it was reassuring to know that even when the other was sick, he could still sort of pull these things on him, even by accident. "I just figured, you know..."

He trailed off, glancing at the tub filling with water, nearly to the point where he'd have to turn it off. "I don't think I want to get in with all my clothes." Suddenly, he bit his lip and looked to Ianto, "I mean, if you want, I have been submerged in my uniform before, if that'd make you feel more comfortable." He couldn't see how it would and he felt remarkably stupid for offering it, but all the same, he figured he'd rather be laughed at than make Ianto uncomfortable.

Ianto shook his head, trying to shake himself out of it in the process as well. "Oh. No, really. That's. That's not necessary. In fact. I'd really prefer if you didn't." He blushed mightily, although he managed a smile at the other man. "I wouldn't want to be the only one with all my clothes off, yeah?" he said, lightly, obviously still a bit flustered. It was silly, really, he supposed, to be flustered by Sulu standing there with no shirt on. He'd seen him in far less before, after all. It was just that...it was the first time since he'd come back where he was going to be in any sort of state of undress with the other man, and. It was nice.

Besides, it had been a while for him, and just because Ianto wasn't physically capable of anything more than platonic admiration for the other man, that didn't mean that his mind didn't wander to more...compromising situations. Like the last time they'd been in the bathroom together, what seemed then like ages ago. He briefly wondered if he was ever going to be up for physical intimacy ever again, but quickly brushed that thought aside, unwilling and unable to even contemplate the idea of it. He realized that he should probably be starting to remove his own clothes, but. He sat there, shaken a little at the thought that this was all he might ever have again, and while it was lovely, Sulu was lovely to look at, as was Jack, he. He wanted more than that.

Trying to get his mind on other things, he turned his eyes away, looking at the water filling the tub. "That's probably good, now. The water level, I mean."

"Good point," Sulu said with a small smile. He couldn't help but be pleased that Ianto still wanted something to do with him like this - even if they weren't going to do anything, even if Ianto was far too sick for it, it was still nice to know that Ianto thought about him like that. He didn't suppose there was any reason to have been unsure about that, really - but all the same, he had been, and having that worry eased let him relax just a bit more into the situation.

There was something changing in Ianto's expression as he commented on the water level, but Sulu didn't think he could really figure it out. Not without Ianto telling him, and he knew just how unlikely that was. He bent down to shut off the tap and then turned to Ianto, feeling suddenly a bit self-conscious without his shirt on, and smiled. "So," he said, "Now the fun part." The undressing, yes, that was actually going to be fun, he imagined, but the arranging themselves part... that would take some effort.

Ianto smiled again, a bit softer than he would be normally, a bit more timid, but he was smiling nonetheless. "The fun part, huh?" he asked, shaking his head. "Alright. I guess I don't have a choice." He brought his hands up to grasp the bottom hem of the t-shirt he was wearing, careful not to brush his cold hands against his torso (just because they were his hands didn't mean that they were any less cold to himself). Carefully, he pulled it up and over his head, pulling his arms out of the sleeves before dropping it on the floor beside him.

The air was freezing, although he could feel the warmth radiating off from the tub and had to admit that he was really looking forward to being warm again, even for a little while. He sat there on the toilet seat, naked from the waist up save for the amulet that hung around his neck, and contemplated whether he was going to be able to stand up on his own or whether he was going to have to ask Sulu to give him a hand again, like he'd done on the sofa. He hadn't really thought about it when he'd first sat down. He just hadn't wanted to stay standing there. He was going to have to get up to get the rest of it off, though. He sighed.

"Help me up?" he asked Sulu quietly, reaching his hands out for the other man to take. He was going to have to get used to accepting help. Specifically if he wanted to stand up from the bathtub after they were done. One step at a time, though, he reminded himself, and tried not to be too worried or embarrassed about it.

Sulu couldn't help but look at the amulet hanging from Ianto's neck, finding the thing to be... a little uncomfortable, really. It was the thing that had given Ianto his life back and it seemed like Ianto was hesitating to take it off for anything. He was pretty sure that it was safe to remove, all the same, but... What if it wasn't? What if it was the only thing keeping him here? Sulu didn't want to think about it.

"Yeah, of course," he said, moving to take Ianto's hands and help him up, lifting one of their intertwined hands to kiss the back of Ianto's once he was steady. "And..." He looked over at the tub before smiling sheepishly at Ianto. "How do you want to do this, anyway?"

Ianto noticed the brief look that Sulu shot at the amulet, and was a bit self-conscious of the object around his neck, really. It was true, he was hesitating to take it off, but. With good reason. For all that he didn't feel very well, he was still grateful to be alive, and none of them really knew for sure if the amulet was merely a way to help channel whatever sort of magic that was used to bring him back, or whether it was the only thing keeping him alive and if he took it off, they might be right back where they started. He usually hid the thing under his shirt, not wanting to show it off, it making him just as uncomfortable as it made Sulu in that moment, but. With no shirt on, hiding it was rather hard.

He smiled gently at Sulu kissing the back of his hand, before trying to process what it was that Sulu was asking. "How do I want to...?" he asked, before realizing what Sulu meant. He blushed, again. "Oh. Well. I... I guess we're probably going to have to, ehm. Y'know. Sit together. If. If that's alright with you, that is." Ianto didn't want to mention it out loud, but. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Sulu to stick close to him. Especially if he did start to fall asleep in the tub.

"Yeah, of course," Sulu said, because really. How could he ever think to say no to a chance to spend time with Ianto, even if it was in a bit of a strange way? Sure, they weren't going to be getting up to anything tonight, but... it would be a step back in the direction of "normal," and Sulu was pretty sure he needed that right now. It'd been too long since he'd felt like everything was going okay.

He wondered, though, if Ianto was going to want him to help him undress, or if he was going to want some kind of privacy. It wasn't like they hadn't undressed in front of each other before - his mind reeled at the idea that it hadn't been that long ago at all, really - but this situation was a bit different than usual. He moved his hands to Ianto's sides, feeling a little self-conscious now that they'd have to actually do something about the clothes they were still wearing. "Do you want me to help, or...?"

Ianto smiled slightly, shaking his head, enjoying the feeling of Sulu's hands on his sides as he prepared to step away from him and remove the rest of his clothes himself. "No, that's... That's alright. Not. Not that I particularly mind the idea of you undressing me, but. I'm afraid that if you were to try, I might start getting ideas that I have absolutely no business thinking at the moment, really." He smiled, moving to put his hands on Sulu's arms, rubbing them gently. "Thank you, though," he said, with a smile and a blush.

Then he slowly extracted himself away from the other man, stepping back to place a hand on the sink to brace himself before bending over and quickly taking off his socks, taking a small moment of pleasure in the fact that he did the action fast enough not to make himself dizzy with the bending over. He tossed the socks on top of his t-shirt lying on the ground, before reaching for the waistband of his jogging pants, moving to untie the drawstring holding them on.

Sulu understood that pretty well, considering that they probably didn't need anything making this situation worse. Not that it was bad to begin with, it was just going to be difficult, sitting in a tub with Ianto pressed up to him, to not... Well. "Got it," he said with an embarrassed laugh. They weren't going to even get to the tub if Sulu kept waffling about how they were going to sit; Sulu knew that he should be wherever would be best to keep Ianto from passing out in the tub and drowning himself, and the best thing to do was just go for it.

Instead of wondering about the logistics and thinking about how Ianto might fall asleep against him, or about how they were soon going to be pressed together, Sulu just shook his head and pulled off his boots and then his socks, undoing the fly of his uniform pants before taking them and his underwear off. He didn't bother folding them up - he had at least two more pairs of pants back in his cabin, after all - and instead he just tossed them over to his shirt. It was cold, though, even for him, and so he quickly climbed into the tub, sinking down into the water with as little sloshing as was humanly possible.

Ianto did his best to keep his eyes away and concentrating on what he was doing rather than to watch Sulu in his undressing and getting into the tub. He got the ties to the waistband undone, and then made quick work of sliding out of both his jogging pants and underwear, gingerly stepping out of them and kicking them to the side. He blushed, standing there naked in the cold air of the bathroom as he glanced over to make sure that there were towels for them (he probably should have thought of that earlier, but luckily, there were), before making his way to the edge of the tub.

Carefully stepping over the edge of the opposite end of the tub, Ianto put a foot in and hissed at the feeling of it. He was sure the water was fine, it was just that his internal temperature was so off it felt just shy of way to hot for him. He could probably handle it, though, he decided, so he stepped in with the other foot and then, without hesitating longer than necessary, he carefully moved to sit down between Sulu's legs. He had every intention of relaxing back against the other man's chest and enjoying himself, but the heat of the water was such a shock that he had to stay sitting up for a moment, gripping the sides of the the tub. "Christ," he hissed out through clenched teeth, as his body struggled to acclimate itself to the temperature of the water.

Sulu winced at Ianto's response to the temperature. It was maybe a little warmer than what he imagined Ianto was used to, but he doubted it was too hot for a normal bath. Ianto, though, was very cold, and he wished he had thought that part through a bit more.

"Sorry," he said as Ianto settled down, shifting around to give Ianto as much room as possible. "Is it too hot? I can fix it, if you want." He put his hands on Ianto's shoulders, gently rubbing them to try and ease the tension there and to give him a chance to get used to the water's temperature.

Ianto shook his head, continuing to grit his teeth. "No, no. It's... It's fine. It's just. I mean, I just need to get used to it, s'all." He tipped his head back to look up at the ceiling. He knew that the water wasn't all that hot. It wasn't steaming enough for it to be as hot as he was perceiving it to be. It's just that to his body, freezing even after having spent the last half an hour or so sitting inside under blankets with Sulu, the obviously quite comfortable water temperature (if Sulu's reaction was anything to go on), was nigh on boiling.

He took one of his hands off the edge of the tub and put it on his opposite shoulder, moving to grip Sulu's hand, not being able to turn around and look at him to reassure him that everything was alright, so doing this instead. "It's... I don't suppose you've ever been outside in the snow for hours and then come inside to a room that's had the heat on all day, waiting for you, have you? Because it's... It's kind of like that." Not that it snowed much in Cardiff, but. That one time that the Master sent Torchwood on a wild goose chase through the Himalayas, it really stuck in his mind after the fact, enough to say that it did feel a bit like that, honestly.

Sulu nodded, continuing to rub Ianto's shoulder with one hand while he grasped Ianto's searching hand with the other. He knew what Ianto was talking about, the change from cold to hot; it wasn't a common thing in San Francisco, but it did occasionally happen to snow and when it did, sometimes just getting out of it could be more than a little jarring. He wished that he could help, but he knew also that there was simply nothing he could do to fix it.

"Yeah, I get it. If you can't adjust, though, let me know. Do you think you can stand it?" He knew that if Ianto couldn't handle the heat, he would be a bit more vocal about it, but at the same time Sulu had noticed a sort of hesitance in Ianto to mention anything being out of his comfort zone. It was a little disheartening, really, to see Ianto trying to pretend everything was all right some of the times he caught it. He just hoped this wouldn't turn into another one of those times.

Despite his obvious discomfort, Ianto smiled at Sulu's concern. "Yeah, don't worry. I'll be fine once I get used to it. I think that this means it's working, though. I mean. Working to warm me up. Like I'm thawing out or something ridiculous like that." That's what it felt like, at any rate. Like he was an ice cube thrown into a glass of water that'd been out in the sun, and his whole body was struggling to become the same temperature as the water, to dissolve like the ice cube would.

He sunk lower, trying to get more of his body under so that he could get used to the water faster, leaning back toward Sulu but not exactly relaxing against him yet, and letting out a shaky breath as he did so. "I guess this'll teach me to sit outside in November," he said, lightly, although it really was the truth. He hadn't really bothered to think of the consequences of sitting out there, he'd been more concerned with his mental well-being than his physical.

"Yeah," Sulu said softly, leaning forward to rest his chin on Ianto's shoulder for a moment, hands sliding to press into the muscles of his upper arms, "Maybe next time you could wear a jacket, at least. I'd like you a little less frostbitten next time we decide to take a bath together." His faint smile echoed in his tone and really, he couldn't see anything incredibly wrong with the situation at the moment. It was just so nice to be able to do something like this with Ianto, even if it was for a different reason than it might've been otherwise.

Ianto's skin above the water was still cold, almost shockingly cold against the heat of the water, and so he dipped his hands under, bringing palmfuls of water over Ianto's shoulders and collarbone. If he was here to help Ianto warm up, then he was going to do what he could to actually be useful.

Ianto would honestly prefer not to be quite so frostbitten the next time either. A jacket probably would have been a good idea. And maybe some shoes and some gloves as well. He hadn't been thinking straight, the only thing really on his mind was that he wanted to feel like there was someone else there, or just nearby, so he could reassure himself that he hadn't been alone, not really.

'Next time we decide to take a bath together', though? Ianto had to smile at those words. "You know," he said coyly. "If this actually ends up working, we might have to do this on a more regular basis until I fully recover from it all. If there is a next time, I can assure you that I'll try my hardest not to be as frozen, then."

At the water poured over the back of his neck, over his shoulder's and collarbone, Ianto was caught by surprise. He couldn't help sucking in a breath, nor could he suppress the involuntary tensing that he did at the heat of it. Hissing again, he reached out to grab the side of the tub, but Sulu's knee ended up being closer, so he grabbed that instead, shivering as his body struggled to warm up. "God, I really hope that this does work..."

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