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.

Comments

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto, however, didn't blame Sulu for not knowing. He grabbed another vegetable to munch on--this one tasted a lot like a sweet potato, which he liked. He was going to have to see if he could find more of this one and eat those. "It sounds complicated," he said, thinking on it. "I dunno how I'd feel about that, though. I mean. It's got to take away from the quality. Even if the food's alright. It's got to be a lot more tasty when there's been someone paying attention to the preparation and all..."

Of course, now Ianto was contemplating food preparation, which the last time he checked, was not a cool kid thing to do. So he took another vegetable as well. "Think I'm going to leave off of the sauces, now, though," he said. He didn't want another repeat of the last time simply because he forgot which one the spicy one was again.

[parked]

"Most people don't notice any difference in taste," Sulu replied - and let's face it, he wasn't above discussing things like food preparation instead of whatever cool kids talked about. "I just... dunno, I can kind of taste it. It's pretty much the same thing, though. Replicators basically made starvation obsolete." If you could make something like that obsolete. "But yeah, I'd... keep clear of at least the spicy one," he said, grinning a bit, "But it's good enough without the sauce, I think."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto, in the middle of raising another vegetable to his mouth to eat, paused. "...I'm sorry," he said, giving Sulu a look like he'd gained another head. "I could've sworn you said something about making starvation obsolete. Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure that something like that on such a grand scale is just impossible, no matter how good your technology is..."

[parked]

Sulu blinked at Ianto, raising an eyebrow. "Uh... That's exactly what I said, actually. You can't have mass famine if you have a machine that can make food from literally anything."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow right back at Sulu. "So, what. You're just saying that people supplied everyone who needed one with one of these machines so now the world is some bright, happy place where world hunger is just a thing of the past?" he asked, sarcastically. Even at 15, Ianto was a pessimist, and he really didn't know what to make of what Sulu was saying, even if it were true or not.

[parked]

Sulu couldn't help but stare at Ianto, much like Ianto was staring at him - the shock and pessimism of Ianto's comments sent him for a loop, big time. How was it so hard to comprehend? Then again, he'd never lived in a world with famine, or disease, or war (not real war, anyway; they weren't at peace with the Romulan or Klingon empires, but the fights happened lightyears away from home and were way beyond his scope at the moment). Maybe it was just different.

"...Uh, kind of, yeah."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto sat back in his seat, shaking his head, ignoring the food and the drink for a moment as he stared back at Sulu. "That's... That's not possible," he said. "People. People don't do things like that. They don't just make helpful machines and give them away to people who need them. I mean, yes, one or two, here or there, but. The whole planet?" Ianto flushed, embarrassed as how pessimistic he was, but. It was true. "People don't go out of their way to do nice things on that level. Not where I'm from, at least."

[parked]

Sulu frowned at that. What kind of world was the 21st century, that Ianto would be so surprised that people would try to help other people? Then again, there were a lot of things that had happened between then and now... He shook his head. "People do, now. It's... it's really not the same place you know. People care about other people. We don't have disease or famine. It's..." Better. But he didn't want to say that and sound like a dick.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Sulu might not have said it, but Ianto could tell where he was going with that comment. "It's better," he said, finishing the thought Sulu started, "isn't it?" He lowered his eyes to the table, sighing slightly. He was only 15, he shouldn't be thinking about this, shouldn't be talking with another boy who was even younger about topics as serious as world hunger and the likes.

"I guess...that I should be happy about that, huh," Ianto said. "That the future looks brighter than it does in the here and now for me." He just wasn't sure if he was or not. It wasn't like, other than visiting here, he'd ever get to see it. Get to see any of it, other than his sad little run-down neighborhood and the sad little petty people who lived in it.

...he needed to change the subject. Before he started to get into an even worse mood than he was.

[parked]

Sulu rubbed the back of his head, making a face. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean it like that... I just. ...Things are better. Things start getting better in the 21st century, even." Not until after they get worse, but he wasn't going to tell him that.

Thankfully, just then, the waitress arrived with their burgers. Sulu thanked whatever powers there were that the food was there to distract them, and grinned as she set the burgers down.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Best Sulu didn't tell him that things were going to get worse, even if it weren't really anything concerning him and his universe. Even better still that the burgers arrived, along with Ianto's coke. Ianto automatically reached for the vinegar, and just about drowned his chips in it, picking one up and sampling it. God, at least chips tasted the same, even if they did call them fries over here. The burger on the other hand...

"...this is enormous," Ianto said, almost warily.

[parked]

Sulu laughed and shrugged. "That's how burgers are in the United States. We just like to eat, I guess," he added with a grin, already moving to get some of the ketchup and mustard that the waitress set down just before leaving. He eyed Ianto's fries with a little trepidation, though. "You got enough vinegar there, man?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shrugged. "Oi," he said, "don't go knocking the vinegar until you've at least tried how it is, yeah?" He put it down on the table in between the two of them. "Maybe it's not your fancy, but you've got to at least try it, if nothing else." Ianto took a few more fries, munching on them thoughtfully, before picking up the ketchup and mustard, opening up the top of his bun and applying them liberally as well.

[parked]

Sulu considered Ianto's comment for a moment, then shrugged and reached over to snake one of Ianto's vinegar covered fries for himself. It wasn't like he was going to mess up his own fries, if it turned out to be gross. It wasn't, though - though it made the fries a little too slippery and mushy for his taste, the vinegar wasn't a bad idea. He shrugged.

"I guess it's okay. Dunno, I like my fries kind of crispy."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto ate another one of his fries, chewing it and shrugging. "Chips aren't usually very crispy in Wales," he said. "They're more... I dunno. I guess soggier and therefore designed for vinegar like this."

Taking his knife, Ianto spread the ketchup and mustard evenly over the top of his hamburger bun, mixing the two together before putting the bun back on the top, picking up the hamburger, and taking a bite. "Mmmm," he said, pausing to chew and swallow before he spoke. "God. This is amazing." Clearly, Ianto had never had a really good hamburger before now.

[parked]

Sulu shrugged at the mention of the difference between chips and fries - as far as Sulu was concerned, they should both be thin cut and crispy. Oh well. He grinned as Ianto worked on putting condiments on his burger, not bothering to spread it out himself but instead using his knife to cut it down the middle, too used to doing it to think otherwise. "They're great, huh? If there's one thing we can do in the states, it's burgers."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Sulu cutting his burger down the middle (who did that anyway, he wondered, was it an American thing, or...?) but didn't question it, instead deciding to simply nod and continue eating. It was a sign that he was really enjoying the food, that he didn't pause to talk in the middle of it. His father had (literally, in some cases) beaten table manners into him, so. As a rule, he tried not to talk too much around food if he could help it.

[parked]

Sulu didn't have the same upbringing, and because of that, he had no trouble talking while he was eating. He never talked with his mouth full, but he wasn't about to give up on conversation just because his burger was delicious. "So, like, if you want, we can head down to the boardwalk and hang out, I dunno, show you around and stuff I guess. If you're up for it, I mean - if you don't have to go home right away."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto paused for a moment to swallow before he spoke up. "God, no. I hope I don't have to go back there any earlier than you make me leave," he said, before the words had really crossed his brain at all. He blushed and took another bite so that he wouldn't say more about it than that. He spoke up after a moment, though. "...the. Hanging out on the boardwalk sounds nice, though. I mean. It's definitely a break from Newport, that's for certain."

[parked]

Sulu raised an eyebrow at Ianto's comment, chewing thoughtfully as he looked at the other boy. He didn't want to assume anything about the other kid's life, so he just wrote it off as living in a... boring area. That was probably it, anyway.

He swallowed and responded, "Well then, we can go hang out for a while. Shouldn't be any problem there, and there's plenty of stuff to see on the boardwalk..."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto was glad that Sulu didn't make anything of his comment there. He was trying to keep as much of his miserable personal life off of the community as he could but it was difficult, especially with accidental videos and regular videos and just the community generally conspiring against him.

"I've never been to a boardwalk," Ianto said, after a few more bites of the burger. "We don't really have them in Wales. Not like this. We've just got the Plass in Cardiff."

[parked]

"Well, it's not really anything too fancy. It's mostly a shopping area, with some touristy stuff. Like the carousel, for one. And there's the aquarium, too, which is pretty cool." Then again, Sulu just liked biology. Not enough to learn everything about it, but still - animals were interesting. He grinned, adding, "We've got a couple of hours, that's for sure," before taking a big bite of his burger.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto quirked an eyebrow at the mention of the carousel, but nodded. Even though he really had absolutely no idea what it would be like, touristy American things. Seeing as how this was his first trip to America, after all. And only, probably, if Ianto's luck were anything to go by. He certainly didn't have enough money right now to plan a trip to London, let alone one to America. And his Tad certainly wouldn't let him go even if he did. More important things do with your time than waste it on dreams, he'd said once.

Ianto continued eating for a moment before responding. "Honestly, whatever you want. I'm a guest here, I. I'll be fine with whatever you pick." Ianto's manners were starting to show, now that he'd spent enough time away from his life and everything he had to be tetchy about, for that moment.

[parked]

Sulu laughed. "Dude, don't worry. If you see something you want to go to, let me know, okay? I mean, I've been here before, so I'm trying to show you around." He shrugged, "I'll show you around, and you just tell me if you want to check something out."

Really, Sulu did like going to the boardwalk and hanging out on the pier, but he didn't do it often. His group of friends was pretty small, all things considered, and they were just as good hanging out at someone's house as they were hanging out downtown. It would be nice to show someone around who wasn't used to the area, really.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, thinking about it. He really didn't know what there was to expect on a boardwalk like this, but he wasn't going to let the fact that he was a little intimidated by it get the better of him. He did like a bit of action in his life, and what more exciting than a little bit of unfamiliar scenery? He ate more of his food, chewing and swallowing before speaking up.

"Yeah," he said, after a moment. "Alright. I think I can manage that much. You're going to have to do a bit of guiding, however. I mean. You know the area, after all. I'm just visiting. Wouldn't want to make this too boring for you either." He smiled slightly, and added, as an afterthought, "I promise I won't try and take you on the carousel..."