parked | Log with Ianto: The Proof is in the Pudding

Sulu noticed that Ianto was... well, maybe a little worried about this whole thing, so he decided to go slow, putting the vehicle in gear and accelerating forward slowly with just a few quick button-pushes, most of them done without even a glance. He knew this car inside and out, after all. Once they made it out of the garage and onto the street, he brought it up a little higher off the ground, just for the hell of it, then accelerated to the speed limit of 35.

"See?" he said, obviously at home in the car, which honestly drove like any car except for being a little smoother of a ride, "I wasn't lying. I really have a hovercar."

Ianto nodded, stiltedly. He was unconsciously gripping the door handle again, unaware that he was doing it, but still doing it nonetheless as he tried to school his expression into something more neutral than a cross between 'oh my god, we're in a hovercar, this is the most brilliant thing ever' and 'oh my god, does this kid know what he's doing, what if we crash and die'.

"You... You really do have a hovercar," Ianto repeated, sounding...well. A bit overwhelmed, but excited at the same time. He wondered at how it drove, what the buttons were for, but he knew better than to ask; he just wouldn't understand no matter how he tried. Instead he opted for a much simpler option. "...a hoverconvertible, even," he said.

Sulu laughed and nodded, "Yeah, a hoverconvertible. It's all mostly custom, my dad had a big hand in it. I guess he just likes this kind of thing. We have a regular car," he added, "But I figured I needed to prove this thing to you more than an electric car."

His home was near the top of one of San Francisco's many steep hills, and so it took them a few turns to get down to the streetlight for the main thoroughfare. "Usually people are actually flying these things, like..." He pointed to a few distant cars in the air as they headed down the slope, all a few miles away, "Like that, but I've got a permit, technically, so I'm not supposed to go over thirty-five feet yet."

"Does it have a top?" Ianto asked, turning in his seat to look at the back of the car. "Or does it just have to stay inside when it rains?" Could hovercars even work in the rain? How the hell should he know, they weren't even invented in his time. And how did braking work? God, they were going to die, weren't they.

Ianto hadn't been really paying attention to the roads when he was looking out the window of Sulu's room, but now that they were going to be driving on them... Ianto swallowed. Hard. He was suddenly very glad that Sulu could only fly so high. "So...how old do you have to be for a license to fly higher, then?" he asked.

"Yeah, it has a top, but c'mon. It's a nice ride without one, right?" He looked over to see Ianto looking not too comfortable, and even though he really did want to make the other feel more at ease, he couldn't help but be a little smug about it. That's what you get for not believing me, he figured.

"You have to be sixteen," he added, stopping at the light as it changed to red. He wasn't about to run yellow lights with Ianto in the car, that was for sure. He was actually still trying to decide where they should even go for food, other than somewhere simple. It wasn't like this was a date or anything. "Which I will be, eventually, and I can fly other aircraft so I don't really need to be flying around with a hovercar. I usually don't go over twenty-five in this, anyway."

Edited 2011-02-03 05:07 (UTC)

Ianto nodded at the bit about the top and the age that he needed to be to get a license. He was so busy freaking out about the car, though, and how high that it could go that he almost missed the other bits to what Sulu was saying. Almost.

"Wait," Ianto said. "You mean...that those other things in your garage, the ones that looked like real, proper flying science fiction...whatever they are's. You're telling me that you can fly those?" He shook his head. "Aren't there any limitations on any of these things? I mean. I know your parents don't want you to, but. Are you technically supposed to be allowed to drive this around like you are right now?"

Sulu couldn't help but be a bit proud of his answer, puffing up a bit as he said, "Yeah, I've learned how to fly most types of aircraft. I'm just good at it." It wasn't even really a boast, this time; it was just the truth. The light changed and he hung a left into light traffic, glancing over at Ianto.

"It's not legal, exactly, but I've got a legal permit for most of the stuff I take out, just because it can be useful for me to be able to do it. I'm not allowed do everything I can do, though, until I'm sixteen." That didn't mean he didn't do it, of course...

Ianto wasn't really sure whether to believe Sulu about the whole being good at flying most types of aircraft bit, but. So far, he didn't seem...too bad of a driver, or anything, so. Maybe this was the truth. He hadn't pulled any stunts. Yet. Ianto didn't really even mind the not legal part. He just...wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to get in trouble in the future in a world where he had absolutely no idea how to get out of trouble.

"Yeah, right," he said. "Most types of aircraft? At your age? Don't say stories," Ianto said, not realizing he sounded horribly Welsh, with his valleys slang like that. If Sulu was telling the truth, though...he'd be pretty impressed, all things considered.

"I'm not saying stories," Sulu said, raising an eyebrow at Ianto for that terrible bit of grammatical slang, "I'm just telling the truth. I can fly most kinds of aircraft. I'm... going to try to learn how to pilot spacecraft as soon as I'm able to." Which meant getting into Starfleet, and telling his family about it, and... well, it was going to be a little dance and song to get that to work out all right.

"It's not really that surprising, is there? I mean, there are probably things you can do that other people can't. It's just my talent." That and fencing, but that was something that didn't necessarily come naturally. He'd just been learning since he was a kid.

Ianto turned his head to look out...well. Where the window would be, if it weren't rolled down. "Yeah," Ianto said, trying to be cocky as he did so, "'course there are." He just...couldn't think of anything that he was good at that anyone would think was cool. ...couldn't think of anything that anyone would be proud of him for. He sunk in his seat a little, both because he was uneasy and also because he was suddenly upset with his life all over again.

"How far away is this place, anyway?" he asked.

Sulu was just about to ask Ianto to elaborate when the other boy asked him where they were going. It took him a minute to decide where they should go, but he knew a place down by the pier that would probably be best for them. "Ten minutes, depending on traffic. Then again, I have no idea if the place is gonna be overrun with cadets trying to get lunch in before their classes, or whatever, so. Here's hoping they go somewhere closer to the Academy."

He took a bit of a sharp right suddenly, realizing that they were going to have to actually go to the restaurant if they wanted to eat. "Sorry," he apologized, though he didn't sound too upset by it. He suddenly pointed to Ianto's right, just briefly enough to point out a tall, blue Andorian dressed in the red cadet uniform of the Academy, grinning a bit. "See, I wasn't lying about alien life, either. But don't tell anyone, I'm pretty sure it's breaking the law to show them to you."

Ianto blanched, clutching the door frame as they turned the corner sharply. He had absolutely no idea where they were going, so he hoped that the other boy did, because that was yet another thing that he didn't want to have to experience, being lost in a foreign world with absolutely no way of getting home save for the kid who'd gotten him lost in the first place, so.

But then there was an alien and Ianto's mind was solely focused on that. "...oh my god," Ianto said, trying to hard not to stare open-mouthedly. "...they're blue."

"Yep," Sulu said, laughing, "Blue. Couple that with the antennas and the white hair and I think you can't really say he's just a performance actor, or anything. Andorian, by the way, that's what he is. And that," he pointed to three green-skinned people, two women and one man, on his side of the street.

"Orions. Tellarite," pointing to a more warmly dressed person with a distinctive looking snout and a long beard. "And, you know. Humans, everywhere, because this is still Earth. Don't worry, it hasn't been replaced or anything." He pulled up at the stoplight as a group of cadets, mostly humans, passed by the crosswalk. "That red uniform means they're cadets at Starfleet Academy. Uh, that's like... a military school."

The Tellarite Ianto really didn't know what to think about, but the Andorian, and those Orions... God, but. They were fascinating. Gorgeous, at least in the case of the green women. And all of them vaguely human in appearance, so. At least that was good. No...well. God, who knows what an alien would look like. Apparently like that, but. There could be some really odd ones out there.

"Starfleet?" Ianto questioned, finding it hard to tear his eyes off of the Orion women, although he did so eventually, turning instead to stare at the Starfleet cadets now. "So. Is this the only place that there is an Academy, then? I mean. Why here of all places?" Not that he was going to argue for there to be one in the UK, certainly not in Wales, but. Ianto didn't really know all that much about America, and it was really showing.

"San Francisco's the official Starfleet headquarters. I mean, the Federation is widespread and all, but it was founded here in 2161. So, everything just sort of gravitated here, instead of, like, Vulcan or something." Sulu shrugged, accelerating the moment the light turned green despite a Cadet that had been about to enter the crosswalk. He rolled his eyes, "The only problem is that some of them act like they own the city. Which is sorta true, I guess, but seriously. It's a green light," he groused, checking his mirror.

"Anyway, the Federation was founded in 2161, like I said, and the Academy was created to train Starfleet officers. It made sense to put it in San Francisco, I guess."

Ianto gripped the door handle of the car tightly as Sulu pushed the car through the light right before that Cadet crossed the road, biting back a hiss to be careful and not kill anyone. He...wasn't sure how bad being run over by a hovercar would be as opposed to a regular car, but. He didn't want to have to watch and find out, either.

"...but why? I mean. Why is Starfleet in San Francisco anyway, and not... I don't know, somewhere else? I mean. I'm not sure what there really is in San Francisco in my time." Which could be showing his ignorance, but. Really, though.

"It just... is. I dunno." Admittedly, the only reason he didn't know was because he didn't always pay attention during Civics, especially when it came to things that he really should know, but he was sure he could look it up later. He probably would, too, now that Ianto had brought it up.

"We're going to Pier 39, by the way," he added, "So you'll get a good look view of the Golden Gate bridge and stuff. It's like a classic tourist spot, but that's where all the good food is, you know? In tourist spots."

Ianto was a little annoyed that Sulu didn't know (people should know their local history, shouldn't they? Ianto certainly knew his), but he wasn't going to press it. He just gave himself a mental pat on the back for having stumped the other.

"Pier 39?" Ianto asked. "I'm guessing...that it's by the ocean, then?" Unless it wasn't, and that was just what it was called, in which case Ianto would feel stupid, but. It was a reasonable assumption, and all. If it was by the ocean, though...at least that'd be something familiar. Granted, not the same ocean, but. At least there wouldn't be any surprises, there.

"God, though. Anywhere that has good food would be top. I'm starving." He hadn't had much to eat before going out--he didn't want his dad to catch him and make it impossible to come in the first place, as it were.

"Yeah, it's at the bay." He hoped that Ianto could actually eat the food - wasn't that one of those time-travelling things? That even if you went somewhere, your body wouldn't be able to handle the food? But he knew instinctively that that wasn't the case here. The people he'd seen worldhopping all over the place never seemed to have trouble, and some of them even lived in worlds other than their own. If that change in diet didn't make you sick, he was pretty sure a cheeseburger or some other, more alien food wouldn't hurt either.

"Actually, we're just about there. I just have to find a spot to park, which is the really fun part." He rolled his eyes as they breezed down the street, the smell of saltwater getting stronger as they got closer. "There used to be sealions all over the place there, too, but they're gone now. That was way back in the 21st century, and all."

Ianto cocked his head at the other boy, finding it odd first of all that someone would be referring to anything as 'way back in the 21st century' when the 21st century hadn't started yet, for him. And then there was the case that his phrasing was really odd there.

"'They're all gone now'?" Ianto repeated, raising an eyebrow at the other boy. "What d'you mean by that? Have they...I dunno, migrated on or something?" It never even occurred to Ianto that 'they're gone now' would mean anything along the lines of what Sulu really meant by that statement.

"The type of sea lions that lived around here are extinct," Sulu replied, using the casual tone of someone talking about something that happened a long, long time ago. They were only a block away now, and so he started looking for a place to park, managing to miraculously find a spot on the street. "Like humpback whales. But... uh, I guess I shouldn't really tell you that."

Even so, Sulu was young and had no intention of hiding these kinds of things from Ianto. They just didn't register as breaking any real rules, since Ianto was just one kid, and he was from probably a completely different Earth. Hopefully. He powered down the engine and brought the hovercar to rest on the pavement, then grinned at Ianto. "So. Lunch?"

Ianto shrugged. "It's not like me knowing that whales go extinct is going to change the future," he said. "I'm not...I dunno, going to become some sort of whale nature activist or something. Not really my cuppa, thanks," he said.

All things considered, aside from almost hitting that one pedestrian, the ride had gone a lot smoother than he'd anticipated it. He'd even forgotten to keep his death grip on the handle of the car door for some of the time. He still was more than a little relieved to be touching down on the ground again, but. Definitely not the horrible roller coaster ride that he'd been dreading it would become.

"Lunch," Ianto echoed back at him. "You're treating, so. Wherever you'd like to go, I'm fine with that. I'm not really all that picky." Well. Not too picky, at any rate.

Sulu took a moment to undo his seatbelt and open his door, climbing out and quickly moving to the sidewalk to avoid oncoming traffic. That was the last thing he needed to do, get hit by a car. He was admittedly pretty proud that Ianto didn't seem to be as freaked out by his driving as he had been at first; he was sensitive about how well he handled flying in general, so it was good to know he wasn't just boasting for the hell of it.

"I've got a place in mind. It's mostly American food, but there're some alien dishes that you might like too. C'mon, we'll head over there."

Ianto shrugged again at Sulu's downplaying where it was that they were headed. He quickly fought his way out of his seatbelt and out of the car, onto the sidewalk to join the other boy. He glanced back at the car, unsure as to whether...well, if it were safe to leave a convertible parked on the side of the road there like that. He'd never seen one before, and he definitely grew up in the part of town where a car like this one would be stolen in half an hour at the most, so. He was more than a little wary of just leaving it there.

"You're forgetting that I'm from Wales. I mean. Sure, we have American food, but. I'm in a foreign country. In the future. I'm pretty sure just about anywhere you take me to will be more than a little bit exciting..." he said, dryly.

They headed down the street towards the pier, Sulu briefly touching the remote in hand to lock the car before tucking the piece of technology away. He couldn't help but stick close to Ianto, mostly because he really didn't need the other kid getting lost; that would seriously suck for the both of them, after all.

"Well, it's kind of a tacky place, and it tries sort of hard to be all old-fashioned, but it's more like a 22nd century diner than a 21st anymore." He grinned, "It's like a restaurant that pretended to be from the 1950s, then threw some things in from the 2150's when the 21st century was seriously going out of style."

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