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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[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..."

[parked]

Sulu ducked his head, laughing a bit. "Yeah, man, I think we're both a little too old for that. I mean, it's cool and all, but after you get older it just kind of seems..." He shrugged, not being able to find the right words. "It's pretty awesome, though, as far as things go around here. But don't worry," he lifted up half of his burger, almost like a toast, "I'll keep an eye on you."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded in response to Sulu's toast there. "My Tad would say that carousels are for little kids and nancy's," he said, thoughtfully. "That almost makes me want to go on it just to prove him wrong. Almost." He took a few bites again, before swallowing and grinning. "Besides. I'm sure that there's plenty of stuff here that my Tad would disapprove of. We can have our try at those things instead, perhaps."

[parked]

"I'm pretty sure being 200 years in the future is a good start on the 'pissing off the parents' thing." Sulu shrugged, taking a large bite of his burger and falling silent as he chewed. He honestly didn't want to suggest anything that might get Ianto in trouble later, since he kind of liked the other boy and didn't want to make his life too much of a living hell. "Probably should stay away from tattoo parlors, though," he added after swallowing, "Might be a little too out there."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto chuckled, on the last few bites of his hamburger, so he refrained from speaking up again until he'd finished. He took a few swallows of his coke, before looking up at Sulu with a grin. "I want to do things that would piss off my Tad, not that would result in him skinning me alive," he said, lightly, even though...yeah. A tattoo. His Tad had only used a belt on him a few times, and he would never do something that might purposely bring a reaction like that on him again.

[parked]

"Yeah," Sulu said, grinning a bit before working on finishing his own burger. He never ate entirely too fast, so it took him a little bit, but he figured Ianto could distract himself by looking around the area below from their vantage point. Maybe he'd see a shop or something he'd want to hit up - who knew?

Once he finished, he added, "We can hit up a souvenir shop even, if you want. 'S not like any of that's expensive."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto sat, eating his chips, thinking about it. Souvenirs... How would he explain away something from America in his own rather Spartan room? It would have to be something that wasn't quite obvious, something that he could just shrug and say that a friend gave him. But. Even to just have that one thing, and know how he got it... It'd be fairly spectacular, really.

"Yeah, alright," he said, with a bit of a smile. "Dunno what I might find, but it's worth a shot. Could always get...I'm not even sure. Nothing that'd stand out too much when I'm from..." For all he knew, even mechanical pencils were complicated now.

[parked]

"Everyone I know has like, at least a shot glass from one of these places," Sulu replied, shrugging as he picked off a few fries, "And those aren't always big or fancy, right?" He waved a hand. "I'm sure we'll find something, anyway. Let me pay and we'll head out, yeah?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto wasn't sure that he could get a shot glass. He was almost legal to drink yes, but. Maybe...a coffee mug instead. At least then it'd be something inconspicuous. Tad wouldn't chide him for drinking from a mug, at least. "Yeah, sure," Ianto said, momentarily forgetting that he didn't have money for this country, let alone this time period. He suddenly felt guilty for making the other pay for him. "...thank you," he said, his manners poking their head out again. "For paying for me. And doing this. You... You don't have to, after all."

[parked]

Sulu shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'm breaking my punishment, so I might as well do it totally, y'know? Besides, it's not like I don't have the spending money." Things weren't that expensive, anyway; they were little luxuries, and inflation had disappeared, so it wasn't as though you got overcharged for things.

Once Sulu had paid for their meal, he waved towards the stairs back down to the main boardwalk. "C'mon, we'll find something to do. Even if it's just hanging out by the water or something."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto stood, walking with Sulu as the pair of them left the restaurant. "Yeah, alright. Honestly, just about anything sounds good to me," he said, sticking his hands in his jean pockets. "I'm glad that I don't stand out too much here, at least. I mean. Yeah, the accent, but. I'm glad that you all still dress the same way, if nothing else." They passed another person dressed in a Starfleet uniform, which gave Ianto pause for a moment. "...alright, mostly the same way. But it's not, like. I dunno. Two hundred years ago for me, women were still in corsets and hoop skirts, and men had handlebar mustaches and cravats and the likes..."

[parked]

Sulu laughed, "Yeah, some of the classic literature we have to read for school talks about people in our era wearing like... silver spandex and stuff, but really that's not how most people dress." He shrugged, "I mean, there are some planets where the fashion is kind of strange, but y'know. Jeans are pretty much always going to be in style."

He led Ianto down the stairs, then turned to head down the boardwalk, towards the huge, 2-story carousel that had been on the pier since the 20th century, even if it barely showed after so many renovations.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto followed him, trying to stick as close as he could to the other boy's side just because of how large of a crowd there was, now that the lunch hour was essentially over and everyone was back out and wandering the boardwalk as well, in all of its touristy glory. As they turned to head toward the carousel, though, Ianto's eyes widened.

"I thought you said carousel," he said to the other boy, "not...whatever the hell that is. I'm not even sure..." Carousels weren't supposed to have multiple stories, as far as Ianto was concerned.

[parked]

Sulu raised an eyebrow, looking at Ianto, then at the carousel down the walk. "It is a carousel. It's just a two-level one - it's been like that pretty much for forever, like even in your time. They've had to redo the animals almost every decade for the last few years though - for some reason, they're really set on keeping it 'true to form' or something." Meaning: wood. It was a far cry from the remodeled crab statue at the end of the pier where they'd come from, which had been done over in three different ways before then.

This, though, kept with the theme; there were sea lions, dragons, horses - though they'd also installed animals from other Federation planets, some of which Sulu didn't remember the name of. He smirked at Ianto, "Almost makes you want to go on, huh?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head. "Then this is something that's entirely American. We certainly don't have two-level carousels in Wales, that's for sure." They barely even had one-level carousels, but that was besides the point. "I don't even... What is that?" he asked, pointing out one of the animals that a particularly ambitious little child was all but hanging off of as it went around.

At Sulu's question, Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Makes me want to go on a carousel?" he asked, making a bit of a face. "I'm from the past, and I'm from Wales, but that doesn't make me bloody five years old, mate," he said, half-incredulously, half really rather amused at it all.