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]

Sulu blinked and there Ianto was, looking disoriented and a little shellshocked. Sulu realized he probably should have cleaned up a little before the other got here - he wondered if Ianto would call him out for it or not.

He almost moved to put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, then decided against it, crossing his arms instead and grinning a bit at the other boy. "How was it?" he asked - he'd never worldhopped either, but he wasn't going to say so, that was for sure.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head, moving to cross his arms, rubbing his hands against them slightly, more of a comforting gesture than anything else. "...weird as hell," Ianto said, truthfully, roughly, his accent coming off a bit strong. He cleared his throat, and tried to remember to focus on sounding less...Welsh, but it was hard. The best he could do was add a little more Cardiff to his Newport accent.

"So. Where... Where am I anyway?" he asked. "Other than...well. In your room?" He raised an eyebrow at it, as yes, it looked just as messy as it had on the video. They hadn't needed a specific place name for hopping to Sulu's place, and therefore other than America of some sort, Ianto really didn't have the faintest idea of where 'here' was.

[parked]

Sulu shrugged as nonchalantly as a boy could with a stranger from another era suddenly in their room, and moved to the window he had in his room, pressing a button to draw up the plastic blinds that covered a pretty impressive view of San Francisco, full of skyscrapers, winding streets and, in the distance, the Golden Gate Bridge and - possibly most importantly - the large campus of Starfleet Academy. There were times when having a place at the top of a hill was a pain in the ass - this wasn't one of them.

He looked over his shoulder, smugly. "San Francisco, 2251. You know, 200 years into the future and... what, five thousand miles from England? Yeah."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto found himself drawn to the window and the view outside. ...a button to raise the blinds. Of course there'd be a button to raise the blinds, he was in the bloody future. He was so distracted with the view and the idea that he was in the future and America that he almost didn't catch the mistake that Sulu made there. As it was, though... "It's Wales," Ianto said, almost breathlessly as he stared out the window in awe. "I'm from Wales. It's...well. Same island, but they're entirely different things." He was too overwhelmed with the view to really sound upset about it, like he might have wanted to.

"...duw," Ianto said, softly. "I really am in the future, aren't I...?"

[parked]

"Still the same approximate distance," Sulu responded easily, crossing his arms and stepping away from the window as he let Ianto take it in. Sure, it was probably against some kind of... moral code or time-traveller's law to let a kid from the 21st century check out the future like this, but Sulu was fourteen years old and he really couldn't care less about Directives or whatever.

"And yep, you are. See? Not lying. You're in 2251, just like I said. San Francisco is basically the place to be in the Federation, since it's Starfleet headquarters and it's where the Academy is."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Starfleet? Ianto was pretty sure that he'd heard that term being tossed around at some point or another between 'hovercars' and 'I'm from the future and so much better than you', but he couldn't be certain. He had to physically tear himself away from the window to look at Sulu as he spoke.

"Starfleet..." he said. "Is that...what it sounds like it is? Some sort of. I don't know, space thing?" True, Ianto knew that a few men had been to the moon at one point or another, and that there were satellites up there somewhere, but. That's as far as he he knew, on that front.

[parked]

Sulu laughed, unable to help it, though he did try to shake it pretty quick. It helped that he could fall into his usual nerdy mode to answer Ianto's question. "Starfleet is a peacekeeping and humanitarian armada for the advancement of Federation knowledge about the galaxy and its peoples, the expansion of Federation science and technology, the military defense of the Federation and it serves a diplomatic function for the Federation towards warp civilizations."

He realized that he'd just recited almost exactly from the Starfleet brochure he'd taken from a recruitment session and flushed slightly, running a hand through his hair. "It's... like the Navy and the Peace Corps rolled into one, I guess."

[torchwoodteaboy]

The fact that sounded like a recitation didn't escape Ianto's notice. "...kind of like the RAF," he said, wonderingly, "only in space..." It took him a moment before he realized how stupid he sounded, saying that, and reigned his wonderment in a little. It was still pretty cool, though. "What's a warp civilization, then?" he asked. Idly, he poked the button that Sulu had poked to get the blinds closed, trying not to jump too high (or at all, really, but it was kind of inevitable) at the blinds moving. He poked it again, and less surprised this time, watched as they opened again. ...neat.

"This is too weird, mate," he said. "It's one thing hearing about the future, but. Seeing it first hand..." He paused, thinking for a moment, before blurting, "do you have walkways that move?"

[parked]

"Civilizations that've discovered warp-speed space travel, pretty much." He shrugged, "Once a civilization gets to that point, the Federation usually asks them to join."

Sulu was equally sort of surprised by the fact that he actually had somebody from a completely different era in his room, playing with his blinds, but he tried to hide it as best as possible. Ianto struck him as the kind of kid to latch on to weaknesses, and he really didn't want that. "Uh, San Francisco doesn't, but I'm pretty sure other places do. I think a few of the bigger buildings might... New York might, too. But I haven't been there, so I can't tell you. Why? Is that... like, a big sci-fi thing?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Warp speed, right..." Ianto said, indicating he had absolutely no idea what the heck warp speed was anyway. Other than something to do with going fast, and traveling in space, that is.

Ianto blushed as soon as his question was out, but there was no taking it back, so he nodded, not about to go back on his question now that he'd posed it. "Yeah," he said, "it is. It's...well. Pretty old sci-fi, HG Wells and the lot, but. Moving walkways, in more than just airports, like...out on streets, or the likes. Things like that..." God, Ianto was dating himself again, wasn't he? He was going to have to stop being such a dork about all of this.

[parked]

"Well, it'd make my life easier, but I think we'll live without them," Sulu replied with a bit of a smirk, noticing how dorky Ianto was being but not particularly minding. He was the same way when it came to things he didn't know about - he just kept asking the questions that came to mind, whether or not they were important.

"By the way, warp speed means you use a warp engine to achieve faster-than-light speed," he added, before looking around. "Okay. My room is boring, and I need to prove myself, so. Want to go get lunch or something?" It was closer to probably dinner, really, but who cared? He was fourteen, it didn't matter.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Faster-than-light speed?" Ianto echoed. Was that even possible? God, it must be. Sulu didn't sound like he was taking the piss, and it did sound like a legitimate scientific advancement, certainly in an era where space travel was a common thing, so. Ianto just had to give up on trying to understand it, is all.

At the suggestion of doing lunch or grabbing a bit to eat, Ianto nodded. "Yeah, actually. If...you're paying, that is," he said, sheepishly. "I haven't got all that much money on me, and even if I did, it's probably not the right currency anyway."

[parked]

Sulu waved a hand. "Don't worry, I've got it covered. And I'll make sure that we get something you can stomach," since he had no idea if Ianto could handle all the different kinds of food there were. He'd stick to a diner for now; they usually had something for anyone.

The door for his room slid open as he moved towards it, and he looked back at Ianto. "C'mon, the garage is this way. It's a pretty good walk down to the trolley stop so I usually just take the car."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto jumped a little, unable to help the reaction, at the sudden opening of the door as Sulu walked toward it. "Christ," he said, calming himself, "don't you have to do anything manually, these days? My god." Despite his griping, he motioned the other boy onward, not even trying to be subtle as he looked at the house as he passed through it.

"This is nice..." he commented idly. Certainly better than where he lived, that was for sure. Then again, they probably didn't have estate houses in...wherever the hell he was, again. San Francisco, was it?

[parked]

"We have to walk manually," Sulu replied, leading Ianto through the open-plan housing unit. It was nice, Sulu could readily admit to that - the clean basic utilities went pretty well with what his mom and grandmother called "modern Japanese fusion" decorating, whatever the hell that meant. Sulu was pretty sure it just meant they went down to the old Chinatown district and picked up whatever looked neat.

"Most of the stuff we have is the supplied furniture, and stuff. My family just likes decorating, I guess, I dunno. Most of the places around here look like this, except with less of a... theme." They cut through the kitchen, which had a replicator, a stove and oven, a refrigerator - of course, it was all very sleek, with smooth lines and lots of buttons, but still. The garage door was located to the side of the replicator, though Sulu had to stop to key in a code. "The front door and this door are set to codes," he explained, "But most of the other doors slide open when you walk to them, unless you lock them. I keep trying to get a keypad on mine, but my parents have an open door policy.... You know," he grinned, "A 'keep your door open' kind of thing."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Oh, ha bloody ha," Ianto said, in response to Sulu's line about walking manually. Of course, the sarcasm was dampened by the fact that he was generally overwhelmed and interested in everything that there was around him. It definitely was an 'Asian' household, but then again, Sulu himself was some kind of Asian, so. It worked for his family.

Ianto rolled his eyes at the 'open door policy' bit, though. "God some things never do change over time, do they?" he wondered aloud. "It's the same at my house." Except...Ianto's door did have a lock. One to lock him in. Not that he was going to share that, though. It...was a little too uncomfortable to bring up in a casual conversation.

[parked]

"Nope. I think it's like an ingrained trait of all parents to never want their kids to have too much privacy. Not that it matters or anything." After all, it wasn't like he did anything that he needed to keep from them, really. Other than sneak a 21st century kid into his house, apparently, but whatever.

The door to the garage slid open, only to reveal something a bit more like a tiny air hangar than a regular garage. There was a side-sliding door for the exit, and a relatively small, helicopter sized aircraft sitting to the far wall. Closer to them, though, was the hovercar - pretty standard, really, with black paint and a retracted roof that made it look a bit like a convertible, only without wheels. It was a retro design, but it worked as far as Sulu was concerned. "Here we go," he said, sliding a glance at Ianto to take in his reaction.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto wasn't sure which bit he was more overwhelmed with. The garage itself, the way it looked, or the individual things that were in it. He glanced sidelong at the plane-looking thing, but decided that it was safer to leave the option of something that really flew out of the mix, and focus on this hovercar.

And...what a weird thing it was, really. All sleek and expensive, but then there weren't wheels so. It almost looked wrong, in a way. Like an unfinished sports car, if that made any sense. Like someone forgot to finish it by adding on the wheels and where the wheels should go, so it was just sitting instead on the floor in the middle of an aircraft hanger. "...that's a hovercar?" Ianto asked trying not to sound as impressed and yet wary as he felt in that moment.

[parked]

"No, it's just a car without wheels," Sulu said with a grin, before moving to grab a remote off of the shelf on the wall. "The bad thing about my parents is, they trust me too much sometimes," he said, moving to the passenger's side and pressing the button on the top of the door, pulling it open for Ianto.

"It's fine, I only scratched it," he said, trying to reassure Ianto a bit, "It's just that it's custom, so they want me to learn to be especially careful. But I'm not planning on showing off," much, "so it should be okay. So long as we're back before seven."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto looked skeptically from the car to Sulu holding the door open for him back to the car, before he nodded. "Yeah, alright," he said, before getting in and closing the door behind him, wondering what the remote that the other boy had grabbed was for. Wondering also what Sulu had been doing to scratch the car in the first place. Maybe it'd been a mistake to get in after all...

He wondered at the seven comment. Not that he was planning to be there forever, but. "That when your parents will be home, then?" he asked. He was proud of the other boy for pulling this and doing something fun, in his honor, especially while grounded. That took guts, after all. Still. "You're sure that they're not going to come back before then and surprise you, yeah?"

[parked]

"Nah, they never try to surprise me. They're heading down to Bakersfield, it'll take them a while to get back, anyway." Sulu moved to the driver's side door, climbing in before pressing a button on the remote to start the engine, triggering the gravitational field that brought it up to a nice three feet off the ground.

He remembered suddenly that, uh, he should be buckling up, just in case - and so he motioned to the relatively 21st century seat-belts. "They're not exactly standard - usually you have at least two straps, but my dad thinks these look better, so." Another button on the remote triggered the garage door, which slid sideways instead of vertically - another weird thing his dad happened to like.

[torchwoodteaboy]

At the press of the button, and the hovering of the car, Ianto's hands were instantly fastened around both the armrest on his left and the door handle on his right. At Sulu's motioning to buckle up, he nodded, loosening his grip on both those things to grab at the seat-belt, going to do it up.

The horizontally sliding garage door was another neat, futuristic touch. If Ianto hadn't been so unnerved by the fact that they were hovering and that no part of the vehicle was touching the ground, he would've been suitably impressed. As of that moment, though...he was just incredibly wary. But trying not to show it, as much as he could, because. Well, freaking out too much in the presence of another boy relatively his age just wasn't on.

[parked]

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."

[torchwoodteaboy]

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.

[parked]

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."