torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH SULU]

Sulu laughed a little at that, shaking his head. "If you want to be downstairs, then I'll take you downstairs," he said with a little bit of overt determination, mostly to be funny more than out of seriousness. Still, he was sure he could carry Ianto down the stairs; after picking him up the first time and seeing just how light he was, he figured it wouldn't be too hard. He'd just have to go slow.

"It'll be easier if we can get him to have some of the tea, too," he added, before pushing the covers aside and, all pretense aside, slipped his arms under Ianto's shoulders and his knees and lifted him out of the bed with nothing more than a sharp inhalation of air. "Which I'm getting ready as we speak."

Sulu moved faster than Ianto's brain could really process, and it was all he could do not to let out a noise of surprise at how easily the other man just picked him up. He hadn't been conscious the last time Sulu'd done this, so it was sort of a first for him. Still, he couldn't keep himself from automatically wrapping his arms around Sulu's neck, holding on loosely, but enough so that he felt better than just being lofted about like that.

Ianto blushed at the fact that...he sort of liked being picked up like this, but that he'd really rather prefer it if he had the option of walking, rather than no choice in the matter whatsoever. He took a deep calming breath, and let himself trust that Sulu knew what he was doing, there. "Good luck getting Jack to drink any more tea," he said, quietly, a bit wryly. "He knows that something's up. I don't think he'll want any refreshments or anything until he gets his answers..."

Sulu couldn't really shrug in this position, and so instead he settled for a jokingly dismissive sort of tone as he moved them towards the hall. "Doesn't mean we can't try, does it?" he asked. Sulu had to admit that he really did like the way Ianto's arms felt around his neck, and made a mental note to randomly scoop Ianto up when he was healthier. He had a feeling if he did it right, he could probably get a little shout of surprise out of him, and the thought made him grin.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Sulu heard the telltale sound of a kettle starting to come to a boil, and so he tightened his grip. "Try not to flail if it feels like you're going to fall, okay?" he requested with a little laugh, though he was being serious. "I can't promise I'll be able to hold on if you do." With that, he went to tackle the stairs, holding on to Ianto firmly and taking each step slowly.

"Well, we can try alright," Ianto said. "Doesn't mean he's going to accept it by any means. Although..." He half-shrugged, a full one not really possible to do while still holding on to Sulu's neck, and he didn't dare let go. "It is the good tea. Perhaps...he won't object as much to this kind. It did make him feel better the last time he had it. And it's definitely not as bad as the ginger," he said, with a slight smile.

At Sulu's tightening of his grip on him and his request, Ianto nodded. "Yeah, alright," Ianto said. He really didn't fancy being dropped down the stairs, so of course he did as Sulu told him, not flailing about and instead lying still in Sulu's arms, going so far as to even shut his eyes and rest his head against Sulu's shoulder. He trusted that Sulu would do everything he could not to knock him out on the wall, or drop him, or trip and end up killing them both, and instead just let himself be carried. Which was hard, for someone as proud as Ianto, but. He didn't mind so much, so long as it was Sulu seeing him in his moment of weakness. He wouldn't mind Jack either, but. Jack was going to have to find out first before he had anything remotely as nice with Jack as well.

"Definitely less of an acquired taste," Sulu admitted, knowing full well that the ginger tea he swore by wasn't always the easiest thing to drink. Still, it was useful - but not as useful as the tea he was about to make for them. He didn't say much about their situation until after he found the bottom stair, too focused on the idea of not falling over to really engage in much more conversation than what they'd already had. Once he found his footing, though, he paused to shift Ianto against him, craning his neck to give Ianto's hair a brief kiss.

"Okay, then. Do you want to be in the kitchen, or... I'm going to be making some toast for you, so maybe we should hang out in the kitchen until Jack gets here." Not to mention, it would be a safer place for them to be. If they were in the main sitting area, Jack would be more likely to reach the front door before Sulu could stop him, after all.

Ianto nodded. "Yeah, kitchen's probably the best. Better for eating, plus I can keep you company while you make the toast." He smirked a little bit. "Y'know, make sure you don't burn down my flat or anything like that. Don't think it's exactly possible, with a toaster, but then again Toshiko almost set the Hub on fire with an alien toaster, so I'm not going to take any chances here."

"Besides," he said, settling his head on Sulu's shoulder, adjusting the angle he was leaning it to make it more comfortable, "we both could probably use the company. Before Jack gets here, and well..." He sighed. "Before things inevitably get a lot more tense than they are right now." Then they'd ever be with just Sulu, Ianto guessed. "He tends to...well. He tends toward big reactions. Unless barely any reaction at all, but. Let's hope for the big one. At least that means he'll get over it..." Since Sulu had spent time with Jack while Ianto was gone, he'd know a bit better of how Jack got in moments like these. "I'm not looking forward to him being angry at me again," Ianto said, quietly.

Edited 2010-12-03 06:49 (UTC)

In all honesty, Sulu could understand the complications alien cookware could provide. He'd seen his share of strange devices that were supposed to do all sorts of things, but all he and his family ever made anything like that do was steam and possibly burn whatever they'd put in it. The fact that it was an "almost" in that situation was probably a good thing.

Moving through the flat, Sulu brought them into the kitchen and found Ianto a seat at the table, helping him sit down before cracking his knuckles as he turned to the now whistling kettle, taking it off the burner. He paused, then turned to face Ianto with a serious expression on his face. "All you have to do is tell me and I'll step in," he reiterated from before, "I'm serious. If he starts shouting and losing his temper, I'm not going to let him do anything stupid." Like throw a chair, or break something, or worst of all, run.

Once Ianto was seated down in the chair, he blushed all over again, not really minding the being carried part as much as he minded having to be put down somewhere. He watched Sulu moving about the kitchen, starting to deal with the water before turning back to him to talk. Ianto bit his lip, nodding. "Yeah, I... I'll tell you. Although. I mean, you'll be right there. I think you'll have a pretty good idea of when he's going off the deep end and when he isn't. Jack... Jack isn't subtle about these kinds of things, you know."

He sighed. "I've made him really angry before, a few times. I don't think that this'll get as bad as that..." He had a momentary flashback of Jack holding a gun to his head ('You execute her or I'll execute you both!'), but quickly brushed that away. "No," he said, shaking his head. "It definitely won't get as bad as that. But... I doubt it's going to be pretty. You've spent time with Jack. You must be at least partially aware of how...well. He's kind of like a force of nature. And sometimes that's good, and sometimes...well. It's not."

Edited 2010-12-03 07:18 (UTC)

"Yeah," Sulu acknowledged with a faintly grim expression on his face, "I've gotten that. It's all right, though, I'm... I'm not sure how he's going to take it, but I'm not above physically pinning him to the wall to keep him from trying to leave." And he really wasn't. He knew that Jack would probably want to storm off, to give himself time to cool down, but Sulu... wasn't sure Ianto would be able to handle that, really. If he'd be around long enough to handle it.

Banishing that thought from his head, Sulu resumed making tea, pulling out three mugs (just in case). He was only going to fill two, because he could really use a little pick-me-up, but if Jack decided he wanted one, then that would help.

As he set the tea to steeping, he moved on to get out some bread for toast. "You said you wanted jam on it, right?" he asked, smiling at Ianto. If he didn't think too hard about the situation, it was almost completely mundane. Almost.

He tried to imagine the other two men fighting on his behalf, Sulu having to pin Jack to the wall to keep him there, Jack fighting against him to make a break for it... He really hoped that it didn't come to that. That it didn't come to blows or pinning or Jack running away. He had absolutely no idea whether it would or not, but the simple fact that he was going to have to send Sulu after him, that he wouldn't be able to go himself, just really didn't sit right with him.

Ianto nodded at Sulu's question, folding his hands together on his lap, feeling awkward to just sit there as Sulu did things for him. Up until that day, even though he was supposed to be resting, Ianto at least tried to help out, getting out plates or getting drinks or whatever. He knew better than to try now, though, but that didn't make sitting there any easier.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "there should be jam in the refrigerator. ...blackberry, if Jack remembered to get the right kind the last time I sent him out for groceries." Jack remembered funny things like that, though, so Ianto wasn't too worried. He wasn't much one for sentimental gestures, Jack, but it was nice that he remembered all of Ianto's favorite things, like his favorite flavor of jam, for example.

The fact that Ianto's favorite kind of jam was blackberry was... strangely fitting. It was also a little strange, really, to know that Jack - someone who sometimes seemed on his own plane - knew what kind of jam Ianto liked. He wasn't sure if he felt... bad about it, really, since Jack had probably more reason to know these sorts of things than Sulu did, but... still. It was definitely a little weird for him.

Though, Sulu had to admit that, while it was a little awkward to be doing everything while Ianto sat there, he was grateful that the other was letting him. It made him feel productive, and the fact that Ianto wasn't complaining about it didn't hurt.

Once toaster was set up, the jam on the counter and a plate pulled down, Sulu poured out two cups of the purple tea, bringing them over to the table and setting one in front of Ianto before settling himself into a chair. "If you want, I can get the sugar. But it should help you feel better, one way or another."

Ianto shook his head. "No, that's alright," he said, smiling slightly. "I think if I can take coffee straight with no sugar, I should be able to handle tea that way as well." He pulled the mug towards himself, wrapping his hands around it to seep in the warmth through the mug. He knew it was too hot do try and drink yet, but it could help his hands warm up a little, while he waited.

Now that Sulu knew the truth about how Ianto was feeling, plus the way that he'd found out, and the fact that they were sitting there quietly waiting for Jack to show up to have to spill he news all over again... It was a bit awkward. Ianto didn't really know what to do to make it better. It's not like he could just fix himself, or take back every time he'd withheld the truth to try and make Sulu or Jack feel better, and truth be told he'd probably do the same thing over if given the chance because that's just how he worked, but. He took in a breath, trying to think of something to say to fill the silence. "...do you think Doctor McCoy will mind seeing me?" he asked, the question being the first thing to come to his mind.

Sulu blinked at the question, a bit surprised by it. Certainly, he'd noticed that it was a little awkward sitting there, knowing that in a little bit a hurricane was going to be blowing through their carefully faked calm, but he hadn't really expected that question in particular to break it.

The truth was that Sulu had no doubt McCoy would see Ianto. The man wouldn't turn down someone in need of medical attention - it just didn't strike Sulu as something the man would do. And besides, Sulu would plead his case the best way he could, whenever he got the chance to ask McCoy for help. He wasn't sure how he'd do it, but he'd know when the time came.

"Of course he will," Sulu said with a smile. "He's too good a doctor to turn down a patient. Besides, you mean enough to me that to not treat you would lead to my being emotionally compromised, and I'm the best helmsman in Starfleet. They can't afford to do that to me." He'd realized about halfway through that sentence that he might be letting himself be too heavy, too serious, and so he'd played it off as best he could.

Ianto didn't miss the change in tone halfway through Sulu's last statement, how it switched a little too quickly from serious to joking to be completely smooth, but he wasn't going to push it. He nodded at what Sulu had to say, though, about McCoy not turning him down. "So...he's good then? At what he does? I mean, he must be, I just. I only met him that once, and he doesn't even remember that, now, not to mention the fact that we weren't meeting as doctor and patient, there. Is... Is there anything I should look out for, if we end up taking a trip to his sick bay?" Ianto asked.

At the little bit of boasting that Sulu threw in there to change the tone of his statement, Ianto smiled at him little bit. "The best helmsman in Starfleet?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You do realize you're going to have to prove that to me sometime, yeah? I've never gotten to see you fly, yet, and well. I should. Sometime. So you can prove that you're not just all talk there, yeah?" There. Mentioning future plans. That was optimistic, right? No way Sulu could become emotionally compromised so long as there was a future to talk about, right?

Sulu smiled at Ianto for that momentary burst of optimism, a real, full smile that was much more like the ones he used to give, though it was still tinged with a little melancholy. "Of course it's not all talk," he said with an overly unconcerned shrug, "And I promise, I'll see about taking one of the shuttles out and showing you what I can do with it in deep space. Now that Jim's back on the community... Well, it'll be easy."

The toast popped up and Sulu stood to get it, finding a knife to spread the jam. "And there's nobody else I'd trust myself to in a medical bay than Dr. McCoy, really. The only thing you should know about him is that he's... a little rough around the edges. He's secretly a nice guy, though, just don't let him know you know that." He brought the toast over to Ianto and set in front of him, settling back in his seat. Unfortunately, the novelty of making things the 21st century way was a little worn, but at least he had the decency to still look at least vaguely proud of himself for once again not burning the flat down.

"Oh, of course," Ianto said, repeating Sulu's words, but really, he did believe him. Sulu wasn't really one to boast about things, so if he said that he was a good pilot...well. Then he probably was. As Sulu set the toast down in front of him, Ianto reached forward to pull it closer, blushing and thanking Sulu quietly, still not quite okay with the idea of having to make other people go out of their way to do such simple things for him as making toast. It was one thing to have someone do it just because, but it was another thing entirely when he just couldn't. Ianto had never been good at being sick, and this...this was so much worse than just being sick.

"I won't tell on you," Ianto said, taking a bite of his toast, not realizing just how hungry he was until he was eating and it tasted so much better than normal jam on toast usually tasted. "I've already almost got you in trouble with him once, I don't know if I can talk him out of it again this time." Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. "When he first came to the community, I...well. Might have let slip that you'd warned me against getting on his bad side. I'm not sure if you heard about that or not. If you didn't, I guess that means my convincing worked, and if not...sorry about that."

"...I would like to go flying with you sometime, though," Ianto said, jumping conversation points again. "Although...no tricks. Or well. Nothing too daredevil. I get enough of that riding shotgun with Jack, and I will shriek like a girl, and no, you're not allowed to do it just to hear that, Lieutenant," he said, shooting Sulu a look over his toast.

Sulu couldn't help but laugh at just about everything Ianto was saying; it was just so good to hear him making jokes and being more like his old self. His usual self. It was nice and normal and it only helped reinforce the fact that yes, things could and would get better. Right now they were at a low point, but after he talked to McCoy and asked him to help, and after they calmed Jack down from what was inevitably going to be a pretty bad reaction, things would be back to normal.

"I'm not making any promises," Sulu said with a grin, picking up his mug with both hands and taking a small drink to bolster his mood. "But I'll try not to do anything just because I would love to hear you shriek. It'd be entertaining, to say the least."

Edited 2010-12-04 01:17 (UTC)

Ianto half rolled his eyes at the other man, not bothering to pause in his eating to say anything about Sulu implying that scaring him flying around in a little space shuttle would be entertaining at all. "You do realize if you want me to go flying with you more than that one time, you're going to have to keep a handle on it and not scare me half to death, so that I'll agree to do it again later, don't you?" he asked, after a moment, pausing in eating his toast to take a drink of the tea.

The tea...wasn't bad. It might even be better than the last time that he had it, although that might just be because he needed it this time. Regardless, it did help calm him down a little. It definitely wasn't going to make him ready to talk to Jack, but. At least it'd help him calm down about it. "I'm not saying that you can't...show off, a little. I'm just. Try to warn me, if you decide to do anything fancy, yeah?"

Sulu grinned and nodded, sipping at his tea. "Okay, okay. I'll make sure I warn you any time I decide we need to do something daring. It's a fair enough request, after all." And really, he was sure that when it came time to actually show Ianto around a shuttlecraft, he wasn't going to want to be doing anything daring. Being in the Enterprise was one thing; being in a shuttlecraft, something much smaller with a much more intimate view of the universe was definitely another.

"You'll like it, though," he said, as though he'd been voicing his thoughts the whole time. "It's... It's different than the Enterprise, you know, a shuttlecraft. And I can actually do more with it. It's more like what the 21st century imagines space travel to be like." He wondered if he'd be able to get them far enough out to get a good look at the Enterprise in its natural habitat; as nice as it looked even when stuck on land, Sulu was a little too proud to let Ianto's memory of the ship contain anything but deep space and the distant stars it was bound for.

Ianto liked how pleased Sulu seemed to be, talking about his ship and his flying. How happy the two things obviously made him. Of course he'd like going out in a shuttlecraft with Sulu. It meant that he could see him doing one of the things that he loved the most, and to allow Ianto to be a part of that...like hell he'd turn it down. He took another sip of the tea, almost forgetting that things were as bad as they were, that this wasn't just a normal conversation sated at his kitchen table with the other man.

"I would like that," he said, smiling softly. "I'd like that a lot. If..." He bit his lip, taking in a breath. "When all of this is over, when I'm better...you should take me flying. You know. Prove that you're not just all talk," he said, knowing that he wasn't just saying that he was good, or just saying that he'd take him, but trying to lighten the statement. Trying to keep things from getting too serious again too quickly, because he knew it was only a matter of time before Jack walked in that front door, and whatever nice mood they had here would be ruined.

Sulu put his mug down, reaching a hand over the table to rest it on top of one of Ianto's. He wasn't sure he'd be able to vocalize how much it meant to him that Ianto was trying to be as optimistic as possible in their situation, and so he hoped the gesture would be enough. He smiled and nodded. "Consider it a date, Mr. Jones. You, me, and a shuttlecraft in deep space."

He paused for a moment, and then leaned back, moving his hands to pick up his mug once more and taking a sip. Finally, he added in as casual tone as possible, "Who knows. Maybe I'll be able to figure out a way to get us a hop to San Francisco. Mine, not yours. I mean, I'm sure there's a way to hide the fact that I'm not supposed to be within the solar system, much less on Earth itself." He'd remembered suggesting it once before, way back when it had been Jack who had been ill in the hospital, and now... now seemed like a good time to bring it up again. Because unlike last time, there wasn't a need to worry about Ianto dying. He'd already done that, and he'd be beating it completely soon enough.

Ianto's eyes lit up at the mention of the shuttlecraft, and then they lit up even more when Sulu started mentioning taking him to San Francisco. Taking him to where he lived and grew up. "Oh wow," Ianto said. "San Francisco..." He remembered Sulu offering, mentioning it once before, but that was all it had been, just a mention. He hadn't expected it to be brought up again, especially not at that moment, that was for certain.

Ianto smiled, picking up his toast and taking another bite or two before responding. "I'd like that as well," he said. "Never been to America. It... It seems so big and far away. Especially that area of it. Plus..." He chuckled a little. "It'd be nice to be shown around," he said, fondly. "I don't really get to do a lot of exploring new places, in Cardiff. There's really only so much you see here before you've seen it all, and it starts to get...well. Just familiar, I guess. Too familiar, sometimes..."

Sulu grinned bashfully and nodded in understanding. He wasn't one to lead tours around his hometown, really, but he knew how it could feel to be in one place for so long that you knew where everything was. It wasn't always bad, but sometimes you needed... something more. Which had been why he'd joined Starfleet, and it was why he was here in 21st century Cardiff now. Though he knew Ianto really didn't think Cardiff was anything special.

"We can probably go anywhere, you know," he said, smiling. "All we have to do is find a world-hopper. Merlin could help us, you know? And we could go anywhere you wanted in the world, really. In both our universes, really."

Ianto ate some more of his toast, smiling and shaking his head at the idea that they could go just about anywhere in either of their universes, provided they found someone to take them. "Let's start out with places that at least one of us knows, yeah?" he said, smiling. "I... I haven't gotten out of this flat for over a month. Just going down the street to the market sounds interesting and exciting to do, and I know that it isn't." He shook his head. "We're going to have to discuss this after the novelty of things like that have worn off again, for me."

Really, they were going to have to wait until he was better, anyway, and surely the novelty would wear off once he did get better and started living a relatively normal life again. Still, though... "I will have a lot of free time, now, though. Now that Torchwood...is on hiatus," he said, struggling to find the right words before settling on those. "So...there'll be a bit more free time to do things like that, I guess," he said, with a shrug. "Still not used to the idea that I could just take a day trip to anywhere I wanted and be able to come back and sleep in my own bed at night, though. It's easy to forget that that's actually possible, yeah?"

"Don't worry," Sulu said, winking, "I'm not expecting us to head off to... I don't know, Greece, the second you're feeling better. Besides, I haven't even been to the market down the street. I think we can start out small."

It was true, too; Sulu honestly didn't mind doing the most mundane things, so long as Ianto was with him. He hadn't been lying when he had told Ianto that he would be happy with just about any kind of date they could come up with, even if it involved nothing more than television and soup. But still - the idea of being able to go with Ianto to other places, places he wanted to go that weren't Cardiff... It would be nice, he couldn't deny. Then again, maybe it was just the idea of being able to do those things that made them all so exciting.

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