Log with Ianto: The Proof is in the Pudding

[parked]

Sulu knew that this was one of those Terrible, Horrible, Rotten, No Good ideas that he was occasionally prone to having. He was grounded, after all; inviting Ianto over to prove that he wasn't just making up the things he'd been talking about was kind of pointless if you couldn't get to the car to prove any of it.

Still, he'd heard his parents leave to visit his aunt in Bakersfield, so... why not? It wasn't like they'd notice - he was really good at hiding his tracks. So, he'd invited Ianto out to prove that his universe really was all he'd said it was. It was the least he could do to prove he was seriously as awesome as he made himself out to be, after all. So, he waited in his room for the inevitable worldhopping Ianto Jones, wondering if that was too specific a place but figuring that worldhopping itself was already pretty specific an art.

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[parked]

Climbing out of the car, Sulu nodded towards the door leading into the rest of the house. "That's cool, you can use my computer. It's pretty intuitive and all, so it should be easy for you to use." Then again, if it wasn't, Sulu would be around to help out. He moved to the door, it sliding open as he approached, and he gestured for Ianto to follow him.

If he'd known Ianto was going to be in big trouble for this, he would've tried to come up with something to help him out with his dad, but he really didn't know much about Ianto's life and he didn't want to pry, so he just let it drop.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto made a bit of a face at the thought of him struggling to use the computer while the other boy sat behind him and watched him fail at it. "...maybe... Maybe it's better if you help me out on that," he said, tentatively. "The one that I'm used to is pretty ancient, even by my standards. I'm not... I'm not sure that I'd really know what I was doing, there."

"Not," he said, trying to save face, "that I need help typing or anything like that. It's just...getting the right window open. I. Might need you to help me out on that sort of thing."

[parked]

Sulu shrugged and nodded; he figured it would be sort of hard for Ianto to get used to the interface, but he'd connect it to the community and let him go from there. It was weird, but the community always showed up as a really old, 21st century sort of website. It worked fine for him, and he didn't have to wait for anything to load at all, but it was still bizarre. At least, though, it meant Ianto probably wouldn't have trouble navigating it from his computer.

He led Ianto through the house, listening for sounds of other people but not hearing anything. He knew they were back too early for his parents to be home, but that didn't mean he couldn't be cautious, right? Leading Ianto into his room, he closed the door and went over to the computer on his desk, leaning over the chair to open up the browser and access the site. "Does it look like this to you?" he asked as he leaned back.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto stepped forward to look at the community's main page over Sulu's shoulder and the back of the chair as well. "Yeah, it does," he said. "S' a bit weird, though, isn't it? I mean. The whole idea of the community and all. I mean. I know it's real. I'm not questioning it. I've made a worldhop over here and all. I'm just saying...it's odd. The idea of it. That something like it would exist."

He leaned over the chair and started to flick through, trying to find the journal of the person that had helped him get over there in the first place, not really rushing to do so. "I never really understood what the hell it had to do with ducks of any sort, though," he said, after a moment. "I mean. It doesn't really make that much sense, as a name for the place, does it?"

[parked]

"I never could figure it out either," Sulu replied, "It's a mystery. Probably just some kind of joke or something. If... you know, the community can do jokes or whatever." Sulu waved a hand. "Either way, it's pretty cool, so I'll let the name go. Like, it shouldn't exist, there's no real way for it to do that, but it does. So it's cool." He shrugged and watched Ianto navigate the community. "What weirds me out is the viruses. That stuff is just completely impossible and stuff, but... you know. You have to deal with it if you want to be there. ...And it's not like you can really say no when it invites you."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"That's what gets me," Ianto said, as he tried to find the exact entry he'd made to get the world hop over here in the first place (he could go directly to the post, but that would be too easy and wouldn't take any time at all, and he really didn't want to leave). "I mean. The fact that there are a lot of things on here that the community doesn't really give us a choice in the matter of. Like...the thing showing up in the first place. I mean..." He turned to Sulu, stalling because he knew the entry was just right there, if he scrolled down a bit more. "If you had the choice, would you give it up? This place, I mean?"

[parked]

If Sulu noticed the stalling on Ianto's part, he wasn't about to mention it. He didn't mind that the other kid was taking some time trying to find whatever it was that he was looking for - it didn't really matter, since his parents wouldn't be back for probably another hour or so.

The question made him pause, if only for a minute. "I dunno. Probably not. I mean, it doesn't really do any lasting damage," he said, shrugging. "And besides, it's more interesting than sitting around doing normal stuff. I wouldn't get to show off to a 21st century kid without it, and all." He grinned at Ianto, just teasing him, really.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto rolled his eyes amicably at the teasing. That is, as much as one could roll their eyes amicably at anyone, but if anyone had perfected the art of snark as much as one could at the age of 16, it would be Ianto. "No, I guess it doesn't do anything too bad. I mean. I'm here, aren't I? In the future. And lucky for me, you aren't some sort of...I don't know, creepy peedo pretending to be a kid my age or anything like that."

Ianto scrolled to the post of the person who'd sent him on the world hop in the first place, typing out a quick note that whenever they were ready, they could send him back, getting a response back almost immediately. "They say that they'll be ready to send me off in 5, 10 minutes tops." He turned back to Sulu. "Think you can put up with me for that much longer?" he joked.

[parked]

"A what?" Sulu asked, completely baffled by Ianto's... was that another Welshism or what? Whatever it was, he didn't understand it in the slightest. But when the boy asked if he could tolerate him for that much longer, he just shrugged and rolled his own eyes. "I guess. It's not like I have a choice there, right?" He was joking too - after all, he didn't mind the other kid hanging out for a little longer.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"A peedo," Ianto repeated, before realizing that he should probably go into a bit more of an explanation than that. "You know, a pedophile," he said, although the first syllable of the word sounded exactly like the word he'd said before, 'peedo-phile' and all. "There can be some creepy people out there on the internet pretending to be someone that they're not, and I'm glad that you're not one of them, I guess is what I'm trying to say," he said, awkwardly.

[parked]

Sulu looked skeptically at Ianto, but he didn't really want to start down that weird-as-hell conversation right then and there, so he just shrugged. "Yeah, well, I'm definitely not a creep or anything. Just some kid from the future," he added with a smirk.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"And I'm just some kid from the past. Exactly as advertised," Ianto said, with a cheeky grin of his own. He glanced down at his watch. It'd be any time now that the worldhopper would take him and send him on his way. "Tell you what. Next time, you come to Wales, yeah? There's plenty that we could do in Cardiff. Better not get into any more trouble, though. We got lucky that your parents were away today, and that they trust you home grounded by yourself."

[parked]

Sulu nodded and crossed his arms behind his head. "Sure, okay. Wales it is. Old school European standards and all, right?" He would probably want to read up on etiquette and stuff. Ianto didn't have the ability to do that (and hadn't needed it), but at the very least, Sulu could make it easier to blend in if he had to.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shrugged, slightly. "Well, I'm not sure that I would say 'old school European' exactly, but then again you're coming from 200 years in the future, so. Maybe that's right. We don't wear cravats and breeches anymore though, so don't go too overboard, yeah? I catch you saying anything like 'cheers' or 'old chap' and I'm kicking you back here straight away," he said, with a grin.

[parked]

"Don't worry, I didn't mean it like that." He scratched the back of his head, "Besides, man, if you did, wouldn't you have shown up wearing stuff like that?" But he hadn't, and besides, Sulu knew that the 20th century wasn't that backwards. Really, he did.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"No," Ianto said, looking down to his jeans and t-shirt, "no, I guess you're right. I wouldn't have..." He laughed slightly, just as the device that the worldhopper had given him started to vibrate in his pocket. He shifted, digging it out, and looked down to see that it had started to count down from a minute on the display. He suddenly didn't really want to leave at all, but he knew it was for the best. Stepping back, he nodded to the device in his hand. "I've got..." he checked the display. "50 seconds..."

[parked]

Sulu nodded as Ianto told him how long he had, even though he really wasn't sure what he could say in fifty seconds. He didn't really have a lot to say, though, so he just grinned and held out a hand briefly. "Well, I guess I'll see you around the community, or whatever. And... I guess I'm coming to Wales sometime."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, smiling slightly as he took Sulu's hand, shaking it firmly before letting it drop. "Guess you are, aren't you?" he said, with a bit of a grin. "Well. It's been fun, yeah? Try not to crash the hovercar and get grounded again, yeah?" he teased, slightly.

[parked]

"I think I can manage. I've been flying for years, after all." He gave Ianto a wave and took a half-step backwards, just in case there was some kind of beam or something involved. The last thing he needed was half of him ended up in Wales. "Good luck, man."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Thanks, you too." Ianto nodded in return to Sulu, and a split second later, was standing in the living room of his house. Just in time for his father to come in and demand where the hell he'd been for the whole day, in a tone that pretty much confirmed he was going to be in heaps of trouble. And yet. He didn't mind too much. It'd been a pretty amazing day, after all.