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parkedFOR TERESA: the best non-cast castmate I could ask for. <3! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. This was going to be something different but damn it, apparently I just couldn't escape the fluff. It's also not got much Ianto in it but that's just what happens when you're sleeping all the time.
Sulu had made a promise to himself that he would give Jack the majority of Ianto's time. It was the most unselfish thing he could think to do, after the hours he'd spent using Jack for comfort, forcing him to be strong for him so that he wouldn't have to be. He wanted to be with Ianto, more than anything in the world; but he knew that he'd taken a lot more time from Jack in the process, and he wanted to give it back.
But when Ianto had called him, telling him that Jack had left earlier that evening on a lead about the SUV and asking him to come down to keep him company, Sulu didn't hesitate to accept. He'd been nearly ready for bed himself, and it took no effort to use the portkey that Jack had gotten Ianto to enter into Ianto's flat. It was another thing Jack had done to make their lives easier and Sulu really did need to thank him for it, someday.
The lights were all off, but as it was only twilight at that point, Sulu found that his night vision was good enough to get him up the stairs. There was a dim lamp on in the bedroom and without a thought, Sulu went right for the room. Ianto was already half-asleep, dressed in a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts; the jogging pants he'd been wearing - and he'd been wearing them a lot, Sulu had noticed, which was a little disorienting when he was so used to Ianto wanting to look immaculate - folded over the footboard of the bed. Ianto raised his head from the pillow and gave him a sleepy smile, waving at the fact that there was already plenty of room beside him for Sulu to slip in. "Hey," he said, quietly.
"Hey," Sulu responded, smiling back and moving forward. He hadn't bothered changing out of his own sleepwear, which made climbing into Ianto's bed a lot easier than if he'd been wearing his uniform, which honestly just sucked for sleeping in. It always pulled tight around his throat. "How are you feeling?"
Ianto paused long enough for Sulu to know that he was weighing his options - should he respond truthfully, or play it down? But he trusted Ianto, so when he said, "All right. Still tired, but. It's only been a week, I imagine it'll pass." His hands found Sulu's sides, sliding under his shirt and up his back, holding him close. Sulu made a face.
"Your hands are freezing."
Ianto laughed. "Told you," he murmured, already letting his eyes fall shut as he pressed in against Sulu, forehead touching forehead. Sulu tucked his arms around Ianto, brushing a hand through his hair. There came a long moment where Sulu thought for sure Ianto was asleep, and that maybe he was falling asleep too, when Ianto asked, "Will you be here when I wake up?"
He considered his schedule mentally, because he didn't want to make a promise that he couldn't keep, and finally he said, "If I have to leave before you wake up, I'll wake you up to say goodbye. Is that okay?" He felt Ianto nod, slowly, and Sulu bent to kiss his temple. "All right. I just never want to make a promise to you I can't keep."
"Everyone does that," Ianto mumbled. "It's okay if you do too."
It wasn't, but Sulu didn't respond. He didn't want to start a discussion on whether or not his determination to keep every promise he made to Ianto was good or bad. All he knew was that he never wanted to have that overwhelming guilt again. He didn't want to wake up one day and have broken promises around him and nobody to redeem himself to. He couldn't do it.
The thoughts racing around in his head - how warm Ianto was, how comfortable this was, how he'd almost lost it and would he ever be able to forget that? - kept him up for a long time. So long, in fact, that by the time he was starting to feel himself sink into sleep, he was roused by the sound of the door clicking shut, forced to be as quiet as possible by a hand on the knob. The dim lamplight illuminated the room enough that Sulu could easily make out Jack's frame, imposing because of the jacket; when he turned around, however, Sulu could see that he was tired and serene. His expression flickered for a moment as he caught sight of Sulu, and then his hand started to reach for the knob again. "Sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't think you'd be here."
There was a lot in Jack's tone, and Sulu knew that his absence had been noticed, but instead of letting it get to him he just gave Jack a flat look and tilted his head towards Ianto. "You can help me keep his hands warm," he murmured quietly, despite the fact that they were in no danger of Ianto waking, "He's going to give my back frostbite at this rate."
While that was by no means true, Jack seemed to take to the joke, rolling his eyes and quietly toeing of his shoes, shucking his jacket and going to hang it up. He was perfectly at home here and Sulu couldn't help but feel just a little bit like an outsider because of that fact. He knew it wasn't a big deal, and that he had duties on a ship a world and 200 years away, but still. He laid his head down and closed his eyes again as Jack undressed, preferring to try to sleep over watching Jack take off his bracers and shirt.
The bed on the other side of Ianto shifted, and Ianto immediately shifted with it when he felt heat, seeking it out and shifting to monopolize both sources of heat on either side of him. Jack slid one arm over Ianto's side, the other stretching up onto the pillows. There was a long stretch of silence, the three of them simply breathing for the time being. Then, Jack said softly, "I don't think this is what Ianto meant when I said he wanted us to share in every sense of the word."
Sulu couldn't help but laugh at that, opening his eyes to catch Jack's blue ones from between Ianto's shoulder and neck. "Yeah," he agreed, "Probably not exactly what he was going for. But, baby steps." He sighed and closed his eyes again, hearing Jack chuckle very quietly to himself. It was worse, Sulu mused, that Ianto was asleep for this; though Sulu had told him about the days between his death and resurrection, Ianto would probably never realize how different Sulu and Jack acted around each other without seeing it first hand. There was no doubt that it wouldn't last, not completely. Sulu and Jack managed to rub each other the wrong way enough for there to always be a bit of friendly irritation on their parts from time to time. But the truth of the matter was that Sulu felt a bit like Jack might be his own captain, instead of him being part of a separate entity. He knew that if Jack gave him an order, his instincts would kick in and he would follow it without even questioning himself. He hoped Jim could forgive him for it, if he ever found out.
Ianto shifted and curled, head pressed against Sulu's shoulder and back pressed against Jack's chest, his hands moving to fold in the spot created between his body and Sulu's. Jack grasped one of Ianto's hands in his own; the other hand, stretched up against the pillows, searched for a moment and then found the hand Sulu had kept in Ianto's hair, holding on firmly. Sulu looked at Jack for a moment and found him almost smiling, so he smiled back and closed his eyes, ducking his head against Ianto's. He knew, even as he was drifting off, that Jack was probably going to be up for a while longer, and really. If anyone had to be watching him and Ianto, he couldn't imagine anyone better.
Sulu had made a promise to himself that he would give Jack the majority of Ianto's time. It was the most unselfish thing he could think to do, after the hours he'd spent using Jack for comfort, forcing him to be strong for him so that he wouldn't have to be. He wanted to be with Ianto, more than anything in the world; but he knew that he'd taken a lot more time from Jack in the process, and he wanted to give it back.
But when Ianto had called him, telling him that Jack had left earlier that evening on a lead about the SUV and asking him to come down to keep him company, Sulu didn't hesitate to accept. He'd been nearly ready for bed himself, and it took no effort to use the portkey that Jack had gotten Ianto to enter into Ianto's flat. It was another thing Jack had done to make their lives easier and Sulu really did need to thank him for it, someday.
The lights were all off, but as it was only twilight at that point, Sulu found that his night vision was good enough to get him up the stairs. There was a dim lamp on in the bedroom and without a thought, Sulu went right for the room. Ianto was already half-asleep, dressed in a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts; the jogging pants he'd been wearing - and he'd been wearing them a lot, Sulu had noticed, which was a little disorienting when he was so used to Ianto wanting to look immaculate - folded over the footboard of the bed. Ianto raised his head from the pillow and gave him a sleepy smile, waving at the fact that there was already plenty of room beside him for Sulu to slip in. "Hey," he said, quietly.
"Hey," Sulu responded, smiling back and moving forward. He hadn't bothered changing out of his own sleepwear, which made climbing into Ianto's bed a lot easier than if he'd been wearing his uniform, which honestly just sucked for sleeping in. It always pulled tight around his throat. "How are you feeling?"
Ianto paused long enough for Sulu to know that he was weighing his options - should he respond truthfully, or play it down? But he trusted Ianto, so when he said, "All right. Still tired, but. It's only been a week, I imagine it'll pass." His hands found Sulu's sides, sliding under his shirt and up his back, holding him close. Sulu made a face.
"Your hands are freezing."
Ianto laughed. "Told you," he murmured, already letting his eyes fall shut as he pressed in against Sulu, forehead touching forehead. Sulu tucked his arms around Ianto, brushing a hand through his hair. There came a long moment where Sulu thought for sure Ianto was asleep, and that maybe he was falling asleep too, when Ianto asked, "Will you be here when I wake up?"
He considered his schedule mentally, because he didn't want to make a promise that he couldn't keep, and finally he said, "If I have to leave before you wake up, I'll wake you up to say goodbye. Is that okay?" He felt Ianto nod, slowly, and Sulu bent to kiss his temple. "All right. I just never want to make a promise to you I can't keep."
"Everyone does that," Ianto mumbled. "It's okay if you do too."
It wasn't, but Sulu didn't respond. He didn't want to start a discussion on whether or not his determination to keep every promise he made to Ianto was good or bad. All he knew was that he never wanted to have that overwhelming guilt again. He didn't want to wake up one day and have broken promises around him and nobody to redeem himself to. He couldn't do it.
The thoughts racing around in his head - how warm Ianto was, how comfortable this was, how he'd almost lost it and would he ever be able to forget that? - kept him up for a long time. So long, in fact, that by the time he was starting to feel himself sink into sleep, he was roused by the sound of the door clicking shut, forced to be as quiet as possible by a hand on the knob. The dim lamplight illuminated the room enough that Sulu could easily make out Jack's frame, imposing because of the jacket; when he turned around, however, Sulu could see that he was tired and serene. His expression flickered for a moment as he caught sight of Sulu, and then his hand started to reach for the knob again. "Sorry," he said quietly, "I didn't think you'd be here."
There was a lot in Jack's tone, and Sulu knew that his absence had been noticed, but instead of letting it get to him he just gave Jack a flat look and tilted his head towards Ianto. "You can help me keep his hands warm," he murmured quietly, despite the fact that they were in no danger of Ianto waking, "He's going to give my back frostbite at this rate."
While that was by no means true, Jack seemed to take to the joke, rolling his eyes and quietly toeing of his shoes, shucking his jacket and going to hang it up. He was perfectly at home here and Sulu couldn't help but feel just a little bit like an outsider because of that fact. He knew it wasn't a big deal, and that he had duties on a ship a world and 200 years away, but still. He laid his head down and closed his eyes again as Jack undressed, preferring to try to sleep over watching Jack take off his bracers and shirt.
The bed on the other side of Ianto shifted, and Ianto immediately shifted with it when he felt heat, seeking it out and shifting to monopolize both sources of heat on either side of him. Jack slid one arm over Ianto's side, the other stretching up onto the pillows. There was a long stretch of silence, the three of them simply breathing for the time being. Then, Jack said softly, "I don't think this is what Ianto meant when I said he wanted us to share in every sense of the word."
Sulu couldn't help but laugh at that, opening his eyes to catch Jack's blue ones from between Ianto's shoulder and neck. "Yeah," he agreed, "Probably not exactly what he was going for. But, baby steps." He sighed and closed his eyes again, hearing Jack chuckle very quietly to himself. It was worse, Sulu mused, that Ianto was asleep for this; though Sulu had told him about the days between his death and resurrection, Ianto would probably never realize how different Sulu and Jack acted around each other without seeing it first hand. There was no doubt that it wouldn't last, not completely. Sulu and Jack managed to rub each other the wrong way enough for there to always be a bit of friendly irritation on their parts from time to time. But the truth of the matter was that Sulu felt a bit like Jack might be his own captain, instead of him being part of a separate entity. He knew that if Jack gave him an order, his instincts would kick in and he would follow it without even questioning himself. He hoped Jim could forgive him for it, if he ever found out.
Ianto shifted and curled, head pressed against Sulu's shoulder and back pressed against Jack's chest, his hands moving to fold in the spot created between his body and Sulu's. Jack grasped one of Ianto's hands in his own; the other hand, stretched up against the pillows, searched for a moment and then found the hand Sulu had kept in Ianto's hair, holding on firmly. Sulu looked at Jack for a moment and found him almost smiling, so he smiled back and closed his eyes, ducking his head against Ianto's. He knew, even as he was drifting off, that Jack was probably going to be up for a while longer, and really. If anyone had to be watching him and Ianto, he couldn't imagine anyone better.
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Date: 2010-11-10 08:41 pm (UTC)Ianto sticking his hands in Sulu's shirt to keep them warm is something that I have always imagined happening, and especially now that I've given him even worse circulation problems than usual, I really like the image of him just wrapping his arms around him, sticking his hands up his shirt to make them warmer, and then falling asleep like that. The "everyone does that [...] it's okay if you do too" line is also a nice touch, because Ianto would try so hard to make Sulu feel more comfortable with himself, and obviously statements like that would have the opposite effect.
Gosh, having Sulu and Jack curling up with Ianto in his bed and keeping him warm is such a sweet image. Especially Jack seeking out Sulu's hand to hold, as well as Ianto's. He really does like Sulu, and it's moments like this that I could really see leading to them eventually sharing Ianto completely. Obviously, they'd be together out of their mutual affection for the other man, but. Jack makes Sulu feel like he's his captain, now, and Sulu makes Jack want to protect him as a team member, after all of this. And then the last few lines really sum this up. ;3;
Yeah, to sum up my rambling about it, I love the fic, and I love that you're always sparking my imagination even further with things like these. It's alright that it didn't go the way you'd expected, things with Sulu and Ianto generally have a mind of their own, and we'll have plenty of opportunity to be horrible to them later. It was an excellent birthday present, thank you. :3 <3