torchwoodteaboy | [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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ianto smiled at the idea of some other sorts of amulets he could be stuck with. He ducked his head to look at the one hanging around his neck, the one he owed his life to, cupped in Sulu's hand. He did catch the tone of the question there, though. Understood that Sulu wasn't asking just about the amulet, but about the situation in general. And it took him a moment to formulate an answer to it.

It wasn't that he resented them bringing him back. He was so, so grateful for it, for them saving him. He just... He wished that he didn't have to put up with everything else on top of that. He wished that he were better. He should be better by then. But he wasn't, and... "I love it," he said. "I mean. It'll take some getting used to. I'm not the jewelry type, really, but. If that's what it takes to be here, like this, with you... Then that's fine with me. All of it," he said, raising his eyes to look at Sulu, pointedly.

Sulu smiled at that, feeling some more of the weight that had been bothering him all this time ease up. "Good," he said, letting go of the amulet to draw Ianto's chin up, kissing him briefly. "Because I'm not going anywhere, so you're sort of stuck with me." After all of this, Sulu wasn't going to be able to pull himself away from Ianto, really.

He would, of course, when Ianto was feeling better; give him some time to himself and time with Jack, but right now Jack had to work on getting Torchwood back into order, to start worrying about how that was going to go about - and Sulu would spend that time with Ianto, to keep him company so that Jack wasn't the only one Ianto had to lean on. It was the least he could do for Jack, who'd sacrificed his life for Ianto to come back, and it was his pleasure when it came to Ianto himself.

Ianto smiled back, smiled into the kiss and at Sulu when he pulled back. "I think I can handle being stuck with you," he said, pulling himself closer to the other man, nudging the pair of them into the position that they were the first night he'd gotten back from the hospital again. He liked that, lying there curled against Sulu's side, head on his shoulder, hand across his chest. Especially under the blankets, it was... It made him feel at home. At home in his flat in a way that he rarely felt otherwise. Which was an odd thought, but there it was, floating in the edge of his mind. Definitely not something he could share quite yet, but. Something he was beginning to come to terms with.

"I definitely think I can handle being stuck with you," he said, moving to rest his head on the other man's shoulder. "You do make a rather excellent pillow, after all," he said, lightly. "Couldn't give something like that up, or anything. I suspect you're as stuck with me as I am with you, in short."

"I like to be useful," Sulu said lightly, moving his hand back to Ianto's shoulders, rubbing them slowly and not trying to avoid the strap this time. Really, the amulet wasn't that bad. He hadn't been lying when he said it was at least a nice enough thing and not too big; it was just unnerving, to have something with that much power that close to either of them.

Still. It got him moments like this, and he couldn't begrudge it that. He lifted his hand to Ianto's hair, knowing and fully abusing the fact that it helped him get to sleep, and complied gratefully to whatever shifts Ianto made in their position. It was so comfortable and warm in that minute, and Sulu momentarily considered what this would be like as a normal, every day occurrence. Pretty amazing, really, he decided, smiling and closing his eyes. It'd be pretty damned amazing.

Ianto's eyes drooped shut, lulled further toward the state of unconsciousness by Sulu's hand in his hair. He shifted, getting even more comfortable, moving his hand to lay flat on Sulu's chest, above his heart. "That's a dirty trick you're playing there," he mumbled, suddenly a lot more tired than he'd been a second ago. "That shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, you know. I feel like I should be putting up some sort of protest. See that you're not just using this to your advantage, and all."

And it did. Work well, that was. Try as he might to keep himself awake, the combination of being warm and comfortable and safe and so very tired was pulling him further towards being asleep, and there really wasn't a reason not to let himself get dragged along for the ride. He sighed, happily, obviously making no sort of movement or statement to encourage Sulu to stop.

"It's as much for your benefit as it is mine," Sulu said softly, laughing a little. "I want you to get a good night's rest, after all." He made no effort to move his hand from Ianto's hair; it was as much a comfort to him as it was to Ianto, after all. The very action of running his hand through Ianto's hair calmed him down, and he had to keep himself from making a comparison between the other man and a cat.

He could feel Ianto drifting off, and he finally let himself begin to wind down himself. He was already tired from a long shift, and the bath had definitely helped get him sleepy. More than that, though - Ianto's presence, warm and alive against him, was enough to lull him into a sleepy, dozing state. He was sure that, no matter how long they had together, Sulu would probably never would be able to completely get over the fact that Ianto was alive and with him again. Sulu couldn't see anything wrong with that, though, and he didn't think he ever would.

Ianto couldn't argue with the idea of a good night's rest. Maybe now that he was finally warm again, he'd actually be able to get one. Get enough rest and wake up the next day feeling better than he'd ever woken before. ...he knew that that was just wishful thinking, but as he drifted off to sleep, Sulu's presence keeping him warm and safe, his hand in his hair relaxing him, and the rising and falling of his chest under his head and his hand more comforting than anything could be in that moment, he couldn't help but hope.

Couldn't help but hope for Sulu's sake as well as for his own that maybe tomorrow would be better. Couldn't help but hope that even if tomorrow wasn't better, that maybe the next day would. Or the next. Or that it would get better eventually. Because...it would. It had to. And if it didn't...it was like John said. He had two wonderful men that would walk through heaven and hell for him, and in a sense, already had. Regardless of what happened next, Ianto went to sleep grateful of what he had in that moment.

[RL WITH SULU]

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