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

"It's kind of hit-or-miss around here; we get more rain than the rest of the state, because of how close to the north-west we are, but then there are a lot of nice days, like this." He grinned a bit, catching sight of the stairs up to the little restaurant. "We can sit inside, if you want, too. It's up to you, you're the guest and everything."

Sulu realized then that he still had his arm over Ianto's shoulder and that it... wasn't really necessary now that the crowd was thinned out to a more manageable level. But it'd be awkward to just pull away, especially now that he'd noticed it, and besides, it was probably safer to not let go until they were up the stairs. He didn't want to lose the other boy, that was for sure.

Ianto, for what it was worth, didn't even notice that Sulu's arm was still there. Well, sure, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was probably aware of the fact, but. He wanted to stick close to the other, and so. Why not, really? That having been said, he'd probably notice once Sulu removed it, but. As of that moment, not so much.

Honestly, it was rather nice out. Warm enough that Ianto might even contemplate taking his jacket off--his shirt underneath was still warm enough, after all. He wanted to sit outside, in the nice weather, but. "...would we be sitting in direct sun, then?" he asked, awkwardly. "Like, are there umbrellas, or...?" Ianto couldn't tell, from that far away.

Sulu nodded. "Yeah, there are umbrellas." He looked like he was about to ask why, but a quick glance at Ianto made him realize that, yeah, he was sort of very fair-skinned. It was probably a bad idea to sit outside at all, but. The kid could deal with getting a sunburn, or something. It wasn't like it was a big deal, right?

Sulu kept his arm on Ianto's shoulders for the timebeing; when they got to the stairs, though, it'd only make sense to let go. Still, he did happen to know how it looked; there were absolutely no side-eyed looks at them, but it wasn't exactly a just-friends sort of thing, to be walking around with your arm around someone's shoulders. And Sulu knew he was also over-thinking it, like he did all the time, so he shoved the thoughts away and said, "I'm pretty sure you'll be okay. You're not burning yet, or anything."

Ianto blushed bright red at knowledge that Sulu knew exactly why it was that he had been asking about the umbrellas for. He couldn't help that he was Welsh, had a typical Welsh complexion, and so he had a million times more likely to get crisped in the sun. Especially coming from a rainy month, such as Ianto had, into the brightness of the sunshine, it would be a little much.

They reached the stairs up to the restaurant and Ianto started up them, his hand on the railing absently, beside himself, when he noticed that...yeah. Sulu's hand just dropped from his shoulders, but. That meant that for the whole walk there, they'd been walking with Sulu's arm around him. And he hadn't noticed. At all.

"...yeah," he said, awkwardly. "As... As long as there's an umbrella... I should be fine..."

Sulu was already taking on the stairs, hearing Ianto's slightly flustered tone perfectly well and rightfully assuming that he'd notice the arm move, there. He wasn't sure why it was awkward, though. He really had no idea, other than maybe it was a little bit more of a smooth move than anything he'd ever pulled in his life, and the fact that it was on a friend, well... That sucked.

"Yeah, you'll be okay," he repeated, awkward himself, "It's usually... self-seating, so you can pick a table and I'll go grab some menus, okay?"

Ianto nodded, not failing to notice the awkward tone in Sulu's voice either. "Yeah, alright. I. I can do that," he said. Shouldn't be too difficult--they were both going to be in the same restaurant, and all. Sulu was just going to get menus, it's not like he was leaving him behind or anything.

As Sulu went off to do that, Ianto took a moment to breathe properly and wrap his head around everything that was going on. He was in the future. It was just about the most exciting thing ever. He tried not to think about how he was going to have to go back home that night, and instead focused on looking for a table.

There weren't that many available--it was a busy day--but luckily, Ianto managed to find one, with an umbrella even. He pulled another chair over, blushing mightily as it meant talking to the couple with the table beside him, before sitting down. And removing his jacket. It was warm, after all, at least by Ianto's standards, and even though it meant exposing more of his skin to the sunlight, the fact that there was sunlight at all was worth it to risk the sunburn in the first place.

It took Sulu a few minutes to wrangle a pair of menus from the staff, but a waitress finally got to him and he was able to get back to Ianto relatively quickly. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to pick the other boy out of the crowd and he made his way over to him, sitting in the chair opposite him and shoving one of the menus in his direction.

"Sorry, man, they're busier than usual. But here, um." He settled back, still feeling a little awkward from the whole thing with the arm, "Burgers are the best, but I can probably give you some other ideas if you want to try something else."

Ianto nodded, sliding the menu in front of him and flipping it open. He had honestly no idea what some of the choices were, but others were ridiculously familiar. He'd feel a bit silly, for ordering chips or anything at an American restaurant in the future, but. Well. A burger did sound good.

"What if..." Ianto said, deciding to state his choice that he'd made a bit earlier, as they'd been walking there. "What if I do get a burger, and... You can tell me what sort of interesting side there would be to order? That way, I'm not... Y'know, wasting the opportunity, or anything like that."

Sulu grinned, admittedly pleased by the fact that the other boy wanted to try something unique to this time period. "Yeah, that sounds do-able." He looked over the sides. He hadn't had many of them there, granted, but he knew what they all were.

"So, hey. I told you I can fly," he said, mostly to keep a conversation going as they waited for the waitress. He didn't want to leave them in an awkward kind of silence, and boasting was the quickest way to get something moving, so...

Ianto raised an eyebrow at the sudden and abrupt conversation topic, but. He wasn't complaining, not really. He nodded. "You did tell me," he said, "though I'm still not sure whether I believe you. Driving a hovercar is one thing, but. Aircraft? At your age?" He said it like he wasn't 15 years old and only one year older than the other boy.

"Where'd you learn to fly any of that stuff, anyway?" he asked. Then again, the garage was huge, and with all of those different vehicles in there... For all Ianto knew, Sulu's family was probably loaded.

"All over the place," Sulu replied, shrugging. "My dad, through organized lessons, just... picking it up as I went. That sort of thing." He'd just always been good at flying - once he got into Starfleet, he knew he'd be able to handle their space-faring stuff just as well as any of the Earth-bound crafts. That was, if he got into Starfleet. But, Sulu was cocky enough to assume he'd be able to, so long as his parents didn't disown him first.

He noticed the waitress making her rounds and decided on the alien dish he'd give Ianto a chance to try, looking up at him. "Oh yeah, uh. Do you want to try something different for a drink, or... we have Coke Classic, but I dunno about the rest of the stuff." Who knew what had been made during the last 200 years, and what was still "original" recipe?

Ianto has honestly no idea. He does like Coke, but then... Once again, maybe he should be trying new things? Being in a time that he would never live to himself, not even if he lived to be the oldest man in the universe. 200 years was an awfully long time.

"I... Listen, why don't. Why don't you pick something out for me? I don't really know what else there would be, besides water that is, and like. I could have water or Coke anytime I wanted, back at home." He shrugged. "Might as well...I dunno, experience the local flavor, or whatever. Being in the future and all..."

Sulu nodded as the waitress came up to their table and ordered cherry Slushos for the both of them, then threw in an Andorian sampler as a sort of appetizer. It was just a variety of Andorian vegetables, fried in a light batter that made them a little more in tune with what this sort of place made, but it worked pretty well, Sulu figured.

He wasn't sure, though, if he should order Ianto's food for him as well, so he just settled for ordering a cheeseburger with fries for himself and looking to Ianto expectantly. The kid had to know how to order, after all, that was pretty obvious.

Ianto sat there in silence before he realized that Sulu expected him to order his own food from there, and blushed rather deeply for looking a bit of a fool. He tried to recover and quickly ordered himself a regular hamburger with fries for himself as well, although it took all he had in him to say fries and not chips.

As the waitress left, Ianto, still bright red, turned to Sulu. "What in god's name is a Slusho?" he asked the other boy.

Admittedly, Sulu felt kind of bad for making Ianto look kind of dumb, there, but it wasn't like he did it on purpose. He just... didn't think ordering all of Ianto's food would be a good thing to do after walking around with his arm around him.

He didn't bring it up, though; he just let Ianto ask his question - which was kind of silly, considering Slusho was pretty big in this era - and shrugged. "It's... like a slushy, kind of? It's really good, though."

Ianto wasn't sure how something could qualify as a 'slushy, kind of', but he wasn't going to ask and make himself look like an even bigger fool than he already had. He was just going to have to wait and see what it was, when the waitress inevitably came back with their order. America was so weird.

And then it came to him. "Shit," he said, kicking himself for not remembering about the differences in fry culture in the United States and chip culture in Britain, "d'you think hey have vinegar, here?"

Sulu wasn't sure how to describe it, but it pretty much was a slushy. He hoped that was the right term, at least. Who knew what differences there could be in 200 years?

He blinked at Ianto's sudden question, though, raising an eyebrow. "Uh. Maybe? Probably, at least. I can ask when the waitress comes back?" He frowned. "Why do you need vinegar, anyway?"

Ianto shrugged, trying for nonchalance and failing considerably. "For the chips," he said. Then he paused, before, "shit, fries. For the fries. They're..." He sighed. "I dunno, I guess it's a British thing. But they're really good with vinegar. My favorite way to eat them." And if they didn't have vinegar, then Ianto would probably be irrationally upset about that.

He looked at the other boy's face for a moment. "...you've never heard of anyone having vinegar on their fries, have you?" he guessed aloud, seeing the look that Sulu was giving him.

Sulu laughed and shook his head. "No man, I've never heard of anyone using vinegar for... like, anything, really. But don't worry, you can call them chips if you want." He grinned, "We're in the heart of the Federation - there are plenty of European people all over the place. Chances are, nobody will even notice." They'd probably find his accent weird, but. That wasn't something he was going to bring up.

Ianto blushed at the laugh and the reassurance, but. He was reassured by that statement. "You... You don't think they'd mind, too much?" he asked, quietly. He was pretty self-conscious about the being Welsh thing, after all. He didn't need to draw any more attention to himself, although it was hard not to. Talking the way he did made him stick out like a sore thumb, and unfortunately, he was nowhere near good enough at faking an accent for that.

"Nah, if they have it, they're not going to even think about it." Sulu leaned back in his chair, pretty content with his decision on the matter. "I mean, everybody's got weird eating habits, right?"

Just then, the waitress came back to them with two large glasses filled with a red liquid. It was something like a slushy, like Sulu had said, but it shared a whipped sort of look like a shake, despite the fact that it was obviously just an ice drink. He didn't hesitate to ask for some vinegar, and like he said, she just smiled and said, "Sure."

"See? No problem. If anything, she'll think I'm weird, since I asked for it." He paused, then added, "She won't, though. I mean, it's not like putting mustard on... cookies, or something."

Ianto smiled at the other boy. While he wasn't sure he liked that the other was still making implications about the food choice being 'weird', he had asked for the vinegar for him, and so... "Yeah," Ianto said, quietly. "Thanks, then. Y'know, for. For asking for me." Standing out was kind of really difficult for Ianto, especially because no matter what he did here, he'd stand out.

He looked at the drink in front of him. He liked cherry flavoring, luckily, but. He wasn't really sure what to make of the thing. "...I thought that you said that this was like a slushy," Ianto said, cautiously. It had the distinct look of a frappe or something, except... Bright red, basically.

"It is like a slushy. It's made like one. I think, at least. With ice and flavoring. It's just that they put something else in it that makes it look like that. I'm really not sure, but it's good, I promise." Sulu took a drink of his own to prove it, because really, it was good. He liked them well enough, even if he usually got a soda. It was worth it to give Ianto a taste of something from this era, he figured.

"And anyway, if you want anything else, man, you just have to ask. It's not like it's a big deal to me if you want vinegar or... I dunno, you don't like the Slusho and want a soda instead. I'm not going to blame you for being sort of shy here. It is a different time, and all."

Ianto looked at it, warily, and then took a hesitant sip. It was bizarre. It tasted like a slushy. It just had the consistency of something...less water-based. Maybe the technology in this time had something to do with it. He took another sip. "It's strange," Ianto said, after a moment. "But. I... I think I do like it."

He blushed a little at the other boy's reassurances, ducking his head a little. "It's... It's weird, yeah?" he said, after a moment, trying to explain himself. "I mean. I'm not only in America, but. I'm in America 200 years in the future. Things that are current and recent to me are not only foreign but also really old, or... I don't know, 'classic', here. It's. It's well cool, but. It's weird." He blushed a little harder. "And. I think... That I might want a soda as well. Since. Since you're offering..." He lowered his eyes to the table. "I'm sorry. For, y'know, costing you this money, and all."

Sulu didn't completely understand, but he didn't tell Ianto that. He wasn't going to be a jerk to the other kid, just because he was from a different time. If anything, Sulu was trying to sort of be on good behavior - it'd be better to show him the benefits of the future, after all, right? "It's cool, don't worry about it. I've got you covered, and yeah, it's kind of a different place altogether, so like I said, it's cool if you're reserved or whatever. It's not like anyone notices - they're all doing their own thing, you know?" And it was true. People cared about others, sure, but that didn't mean they were going to notice if someone wasn't speaking up as much as they probably should.

Just then, the waitress returned with the Andorian sampler; it was arranged like any other sampler, but even Sulu wasn't completely sure what was what. He wasn't much for Andorian food, but their fast food was pretty good, so. It was just a variety of fried and roasted vegetables, with some sauces for dipping that he wasn't even sure about. He asked the waitress for a Coke Classic, since it was the one thing he knew would be like what Ianto was used to, and once she left, he told him as much. "I didn't want to get you something that... wouldn't be what you were used to, or something."

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