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 noticed the glance and did what any kid would do in his position; he nudged the other with his elbow and grinned at him. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna disappear on you. I sure as hell don't want to lose you or anything." That was the last thing he wanted, anyway. He wondered if it would help if he put his arm over Ianto's shoulder again, to make sure that neither of them would wander off - but he didn't want to do anything too weird.

"Uh, anyway - if you see somewhere you wanna check out, just tell me. You're the tourist, after all."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, shrugging. He definitely wasn't going to wander off if he saw something without telling the other boy first, that was for certain. "Yeah, alright. I figure...well. It's nice weather here. A bit of wandering isn't going to be too bad, yeah? It's certainly not this nice back in Wales. Probably...pissing down or something at the moment, there." Had Ianto mentioned that it was good to be away from home for the day? Because it was really good to be away from home for the day.

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"Yeah, well, it's not always nice here either, you know," Sulu replied, though there was some amount of pride in his tone. He loved his city and he wasn't afraid to show it, even if it only showed itself in how he smiled when he talked about the place he'd grown up in. "And anyway, I've never been outside of the states before, so even if it was raining, I'd still really like it, I'd bet."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shrugged. "Maybe Cardiff you'd like. Definitely not Newport. There's nothing there but..." He thought about it for a moment, but he couldn't come up with anything. "No, there's nothing there at all, actually." Just estate houses, all of them looking the same as the one he'd grown up in, the one he lived in now, the one he'd probably live in forever if he didn't get himself the hell out of there as soon as possible.

Ianto laughed a little, looking sideways at Sulu for a moment. "Hey, though. Who knows. Maybe next time you can come visit me, yeah?" Granted, they'd have to take a trip to Cardiff, but. Damn it, why not. He'd be able to pay Sulu back in some way, and... Who knows, it might actually be fun, which. Ianto didn't get to have a lot of the time, he realized.

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"I wouldn't be against that, really," Sulu replied, shrugging. "I mean, it'd be kind of weird - like it's weird for you being here, or something - but it'd be cool." After all, it wasn't like he was going to get the chance to go back in time, right? Much less back in time to Europe. He wasn't likely to end up going to Europe now, that was for sure, so why not?

"You'll have to hit me up sometime later, okay? Like, when you're bored or something."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, although the question was, when was he not bored. "I'll keep it in mind," he said. "Although. I'll probably plan it around when the weather's nice, rather than around whether I'm bored or not. It only really matters when I can slip away from the house or not, honestly." He shot a look over his shoulder at the other boy. "Not everyone's parents go off on a trip for the day, after all," he said, with a smile. A group of tourists walked by, and though logically Ianto wouldn't just get swept away by it, he stepped closer to the other boy unconsciously anyway.

[parked]

Sulu grinned back, seeing the unconscious move away from the tourists and putting an arm over Ianto's shoulder, mostly to reassure the other that he wasn't about to get pulled away by some random group of people - and maybe a little to reassure himself. The last thing he needed was another near-miss heart attack.

"I'm not really big on rain so yeah, maybe wait for a nicer day. I'm not gonna complain, though, it'll be cool no matter if its raining or not." he nodded toward a nearby souvenir shop. "Wanna check it out?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto didn't even question the arm around his shoulder--he just let it happen, stepping even closer to the other boy and appreciating the touch, the reassurance that it brought him. At Sulu's nodding toward the souvenir shop, he shrugged slightly, nodding. "Sure, why not. Seems like there should be at least something in there." Whether there would be anything that caught Ianto's eye was another story, but. Why not give it a try, anyway. Sure, the place looked a little kitschy, but. Who knew, maybe they'd find exactly what he was looking for, even without knowing what he was looking for in the first place.

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"It's probably going to have a lot of the same stuff that any other touristy shop has, I think. I don't know, I haven't been in a souvenir store in a while." And that was pretty true; you didn't really go into those places when you lived in the city they were for. Not when even grocery stores had little things to spend your credit on with "San Francisco" thrown on them.

The shop really did look like any tourist shop; maybe it was more modern in design, but even through the windows, Sulu felt like it had to look like the kind of place you picked up on gifts for out-of-town family or whatever.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto followed the other boy into the shop, gently shrugging his way out from underneath his arm just because they were going inside, but otherwise sticking exactly as close as he had been before. Starting to poke around Ianto came across the usual touristy goods, mugs and t-shirts and key-chains and the likes. But a certain logo featured on some things started to catch his eye--something that he didn't quite recognize, but he knew that he'd seen somewhere.

Ianto pointed it out. "What's this, then? It seems to be on a lot of the things around here..."

[parked]

Sulu's arm dropped as easily from Ianto's shoulders as it had been put there - maybe a little awkwardly because he didn't realize he'd... left it there, but still. He followed Ianto as he wandered around, brushing through shirts for the hell of it, making faces at some of the tackier things, like snowglobes (with real snow, thanks to technology probably developed for something a little more important than souvenirs).

When Ianto asked him what the insignia was for, Sulu raised an eyebrow. He just wasn't used to people not knowing what it was. "It's the Starfleet insignia. It's all over the place here because the Academy's based in San Francisco, so it's kind of a tourist point. Cadets probably buy stuff like this to send home all the time."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Tacky as some of the things may have been, if Ianto had known how advanced they were, hell. He might have actually been tempted to go for things like the snowglobes with real snow, tacky as they may have been to someone from the time and area. Real snow was certainly a step up from what was normally just a handful of glitter, after all.

Ianto's attention was focused more on the explanation of the symbol, more on the symbol itself. He didn't miss the look asking about it got him, but at least Sulu was explaining it to him, instead of just looking like he was silly for asking. "The Starfleet insignia..." Ianto repeated, reaching out to trace the pattern, inlayed over the porcelain of a coffee mug. "That's really a big point for this area, then. The fact that the Academy is here. I mean." He motioned around. "Obviously, it's not the only thing here, but..." He trailed off and looked back at the pattern.

"You seem to know a lot about this Starfleet, then," he remarked, casually, after a moment. When Sulu had mentioned wanting to pilot spacecraft, Ianto had had no idea that that had meant joining up, or anything. He had no idea how things worked in this day and age and universe, after all.

[parked]

Sulu shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest - it was maybe a little defensive posturing, but he couldn't help it. He was usually pretty private when it came to the things he was planning on doing about his future, and Starfleet was definitely something he wanted in his future.

He'd talked about it on the community before, though, he knew, so it wasn't that big a deal. Not really, at least. "Yeah, well. It's hard not to know about it, when you live here. Besides, I've... been considering joining. Kind of." Kind of seriously, that was.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto tried his best to keep from raising an eyebrow at that. Really, he shouldn't be surprised that the other would be considering joining an organization all about flying into space, considering Sulu seemed to be all about all sorts of flying, if his boasting about being able to fly just about anything was anything to go by. It seemed to be sort of a big deal for him to say that, though, going by his posture. Ianto didn't want to screw up the fact that the other kid had said anything at all with some sort of flippant quip or comment.

"...it sounds like something that would be right up your alley, honestly," Ianto replied, after a moment of thought.

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"Yeah?" Sulu couldn't help but sound (and feel) a little surprised, maybe even a little relieved. It wasn't necessarily an uncommon decision to try and get into Starfleet, but it was difficult and involving and, yeah, okay, maybe his parents weren't going to be really open to it. But the fact that even someone who didn't know what Starfleet really was thought it sounded like something he would do was kind of reassuring in a way.

"Well." He realized he hadn't really said anything else, and his face flushed a little as he tried to save himself there. "I mean. It's just an idea, right now. I'm still working on it. It's not easy to get in."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto cocked his head to the side, looking at Sulu for a moment, before turning his gaze back to the memorabilia. He wanted to ask more, but. He wondered if that were alright, if Sulu minded. Well, he hadn't seemed to mind any of the other times he'd asked him about it, so. Why not.

"Yeah?" he asked, casually. "Isn't it? What would you have to worry about to get in?" He was genuinely curious about it, and Sulu seemed...to actually really be into this whole Starfleet thing, so. He didn't think that the other would mind too much about him asking the questions he was at that moment. He hoped not, at least.

[parked]

"Well..." Sulu didn't mind. He pretended like it was something he was debating about, but it really wasn't - not completely. There were bits of him that knew that it was going to be hard, maybe even too hard, to get into the Academy and get to a point where he'd be comfortable at in Starfleet, but those parts of him were outnumbered by the part of him that knew he could do it, and that he wanted to do it, and why shouldn't he do it?

"Like, there are tests to qualify into tests to qualify into the Academy. You have to make your way from basic quizzes to full physical exams, then to basic tests of endurance and skill to see if you can even make it in the school itself. It's really competitive - a lot of people want to be in Starfleet, not just from Earth. All the other Federation planets have people just like me who want to get into the Academy, and so it can get tough. And then..." He shrugged. "Even after you get in, making it through the classes and tests is supposed to be even more competitive. Everyone's... you know, trying to outdo the other people in their class. Starfleet is for the best, after all." Though, honestly? Talking about it made him excited for it. He was up for a challenge - and even if he didn't make it, he'd have at least tried. That was better than nothing, he guessed.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded at the right points in the explanation, trying to understand the level of difficulty the other was really going to have to face if he really were going to try and get into the school. Which...it sounded like he was, going from the tone of voice that he got into whenever he started talking about even Starfleet itself.

Poking through a few things, here and there, normal touristy type things, like puzzles with pictures of the San Francisco skyscape, or the bridge, miniature models of the bridge or the carousel, things like that, Ianto kept pressing on the conversation. "Is there any reason why you wouldn't try, though? I mean, it sounds hard, but." He shot a look at the other boy. "Dunno. You don't seem like the type to not even try, I s'pose," he said, before flushing and turning back to the souvenirs he was poking through.

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Sulu ran a hand through his hair, trying to hide how embarrassed he was by the compliment - well, sort-of compliment, but still. Sulu took it that way. "Well. I'm not that type, I guess. I'm just... The only thing that's really making it a hard decision is my parents. It's something I have to like... talk to them about, but I'm not too sure how they're gonna deal with it. You know?"

He hesitated for a moment, then added, "Y'know, nothing really screams 23rd century like the Starfleet insignia, that's for sure."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded. Sulu's parents seemed like nice enough people, even if he was technically grounded at the moment. Well. Sulu hadn't really said a word against them so far, which was really what Ianto was basing his opinion on it all off of at that moment. Just about anyone was better than his Tad though, as far as Ianto was concerned. And if Sulu's parents trusted him enough to leave him home alone even when he was grounded, well... "It'd be worth it to at least talk to them about it. I mean. They aren't...I dunno, openly hating of Starfleet or anything like that, are they?" he asked.

And then, after Sulu's added words, a slow smile spread across Ianto's face. "...no, I don't suppose that anything would, would it," he said, before turning back to look through all of the things that were printed with Starfleet insignias and the likes.

[parked]

Sulu really was going to talk to his parents, really he was. But not now, obviously; he had to make sure he got away with breaking curfew, first. He grinned back at Ianto and moved around him to lean against a clear section of the wall as Ianto browsed through the Starfleet souvenirs. He thought some of them were pretty good, honestly; tacky, sure, but it would work really well for what they were looking for.

"Got any idea of what you're looking for?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Not a clue," Ianto said, honestly, as he poked through the various memorabilia. The snow globes were cool, but. Ianto didn't really have anywhere to put them, and it'd probably get broken anyway. He needed something that he could keep hidden, something that wouldn't make him feel guilty that he was having the other boy pay for, something...

And then a flash of gold caught his eye. A pocket watch, shaped like the Starfleet insignia. It wasn't anything that people would really question him about, but was still foreign enough that Ianto would know exactly what it represented. The best part of it was that if his Tad found it, he'd probably give him shit about the shape of the thing, but the fact that he had a pocket watch might actually impress him. Well. Not impress, because he never seemed to be able to do anything right in his eyes, but. At least he wouldn't be told off about it. He had to wonder what the other boy would think as he pointed to it.

"...that," he said, decidedly.

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Sulu did raise an eyebrow at that, though it was only briefly. It was a little bit of a mix between classy and tacky, he thought; someone who had one of those was definitely a tourist, but he knew it was probably better than a snowglobe or tee shirt. More... elegant, or something. He didn't really like watches, especially classic analog ones, but hey. ...Did they even have digital ones in Ianto's time?

He nodded. "Yeah? So we're going with the Starfleet watch?" He clearly had no problem with it - his question was more prodding than anything, like he was trying to ask why Ianto was picking that without sounding like he was asking that.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto blushed at the prodding, nodding and closing off his expression a little, because...honestly, he was embarrassed about it. "Yeah," he said, chewing on his lip a little and turning his eyes down and to the side, his voice a bit stiff and defensive. "I...like watches. And. I wanted to find something from the future that I could use, so..."

The more he tried to defend himself and his choice, the more embarrassed he got about it. "Look, you. You don't have to get it for me. It's a silly idea anyway, and. You don't have to, never mind that I even mentioned it." And flushing deeply, he turned and took a step away, fully intending on fleeing the tourist shop that they were in and...he didn't know what after that, he wasn't exactly sure, but he just wanted to run away and hide.

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"What?" Sulu wasn't exactly sure when he'd raised Ianto's hackles, but it was pretty obvious that, just like he'd gotten defensive over Starfleet, Ianto was getting defensive over this whole watch thing. He reached out before he thought about it, grabbing Ianto's arm and gently tugging him. "Hey man, it's not like it's super overpriced or anything. If that's something you want, then how's it silly?" After all, he wasn't really able to judge; he... had a thing about plants. At least watches were useful.