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 couldn't help but scowl a little at Ianto's tone, but he still nodded as he looked away, awkwardly. "Yeah," he said, "I mean. Not just gardening. I like plants, like... All kinds, not just flowers or whatever." He shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal, nothing to worry about, totally cool. Not that it was, but he could pretend.

"So... Don't worry about it. It might not be cool to everyone, but it's cool to me." That, at least, was true.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"...it is?" Ianto asked, honestly. He reached out, running a finger along the outline of the boxes of one of the watches, idly. Ianto didn't really have any judgment of the fact that Sulu liked plants. Sure, plants weren't really Ianto's thing, but. If Sulu liked them, he wasn't going to frown on that fact or anything. In the reverse situation of Sulu at that moment, he wasn't going to laugh or poke fun at the other boy's likes and dislikes.

After a moment, Ianto nodded, calming down a little from his moment that he'd had earlier. "If..." he started out, trailing off, before starting over again. He turned his eyes down at the ground, and blushed harder again, but at least he wasn't running away anymore. "If...you wouldn't mind, I kind of...really like pocket watches..." he said, tracing the edge of a box again.

[parked]

At least Sulu seemed to realize that Ianto was calming down, thankfully, so he didn't push the issue one way or another. Instead, he just reached out to pick up a box, smiling at Ianto. "I definitely don't mind. I wouldn't have offered to buy you something if I was going to turn you down on the thing you like, you know?" He nodded towards the register. "Besides, it's cool. Just... If it stops, or breaks or something? You might not be able to take it to a shop or anything." He shrugged. "I dunno for sure, but I think '200 years worth of technological advancement' applies to watches as much as anything. Y'know?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, blushing slightly still as he did so. "Yeah, I... I guess I'll just have to get you to take it somewhere for me, if it does stop working or something, then. If... If that's alright, that is? I mean. If I can't get it to work on my own, then. It'd be better to have it serviced than just let it sit around and be useless. But. I mean, if it's not, that's fine too. You wouldn't have to. It's nice to look at, regardless."

Ianto shuffled his feet for a moment, before speaking up again. "Thank you," he said. He wasn't sure if he was thanking him for not making fun of him, or for buying it for him, or convincing him not to back off on his decision, or sharing that he was just as much of a geek as Ianto himself was...but regardless. He was grateful for the other boy in that moment, and yes. He was awkward about it, but. He was awkward about pretty much everything in that moment, so. No change there.

[parked]

Sulu shuffled his feet a bit, turning towards the register. He didn't really know how to react to Ianto's gratitude; he knew it was no big deal, or at least that it shouldn't be a big deal, but after the awkward moment they'd had, it felt like the appreciation was for more than just the watch. So, he just waved a hand and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, and yeah, I can get it fixed and stuff. It'll be okay, so... yeah, really, just don't worry about it."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Yeah, alright..." Ianto realized how awkward the pair of them were being about the whole situation, so rather than furthering how awkward that conversation was going, he just nodded and stood back to let the other boy pay for him. He was glad that he wasn't the one playing the host--he would have been a poor one, comparatively. He didn't really have that much money to speak of--maybe enough for the pair of them to go out to lunch to a pretty cheap chip shop, but other than that... No souvenirs or anything like that. If Sulu took him up on his offer to visit 21st century Wales, Ianto had to hope that the other boy would understand why he didn't get exactly the same treatment. Sulu's family seemed pretty rich, at least compared to Ianto's, and what's more, he seemed to be on better terms with them than Ianto.

[parked]

Thankfully, Sulu wasn't picky enough to expect the same treatment; anything he could get in the 20th century, he would probably end up losing in his room anyway. Not that he'd want anything - he was sure there was some rule against it, and it'd be easier to hide breaking it if he was giving Ianto something to take with him, rather than him getting something he'd keep.

Sulu paid over the credit for the watch, then turned back to Ianto and grinned, holding out the box for Ianto to take. "There we go. So..." He nodded towards the door, "Do you want to maybe go get some ice cream, or something?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto took the box from Sulu with a nod of thanks and a smile, carefully sticking it into his pocket as he headed out of the store with Sulu. At the other boy's question, though, he fell silent for a moment, contemplating what sort of a response would be the most appropriate. He wasn't quite over his whole moment of feeling uncool back there, and anything to keep him from looking uncool again would be greatly appreciated.

"...we could," he said, cautiously. "...could I maybe get a milkshake instead, though?" he asked. God, even that was giving too much away. His sister never stopped making fun of him for the fact that he didn't like ice cream, and he was sure that once Sulu found out that he would as well. Because really, what sort of a person was he not to like ice cream? A milk shake was easier to handle, though, for some reason. He could let it melt until it was warm enough that it wasn't so cold anymore.

[parked]

"Sure," Sulu replied, not even noticing the tone after all the awkwardness before. "Or, uh, if you like it better, there are frozen yogurt places all over San Francisco, especially the pier. We're really big on it, but I don't know why." He made a face; ice cream was way better because it was supposed to be unhealthy for you. That was the point of eating it! "But yeah, I know one place with good milkshakes, so we can go there if you want." Anything to put the awkwardness behind them.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head. Frozen yogurt was just as bad. Anything that was solid and frozen really. Anything that would give him brain freeze and that he couldn't let melt until it was no longer cold enough not to threaten that anymore. "I... I'd prefer milkshakes, if that's alright. Although... I mean, most ice cream places can do both, right? You can have ice cream and I can have a shake and...we'll both be alright, yeah? I..."

Ianto felt silly for asking, and so. He decided that at risk to his own image, that he'd explain himself, because then he wouldn't be disappointing, then he'd just be...well. Dorky. Which he already was, considering the pocket watch and all. He'd basically submitted himself to that fate, now, though. "...ice cream gives me headaches," he said, awkwardly, but not sounding embarrassed as much as he could, just sounding...well. Resigned to the fact. "I. Prefer milkshakes. If...if that's alright, that is."

[parked]

For all of the things Ianto could have said, in all honesty that was the least strange. He knew there were species that just straight up couldn't have ice cream, and others that thought of ice cream as a declaration of war, so just getting brainfreeze from it wasn't anything too bad.

"It's cool, man. The place I know pretty much can make a milkshake out of anything, so they have a bunch of flavors anyway. You don't have to have anything you don't want." He jabbed a thumb back towards the end of the pier where they'd come in from. "You sound pretty down about it, though."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"...'make a milkshake out of anything'?" Ianto asked, cautiously. This was the future and with the technology that they had now, well. Who knew whether that was even an exaggeration or not. Ianto certainly didn't. For all he knew, they could make flavors that only aliens would like to eat, like...grass, or dirt or. Who knows, something weird. Whatever, Ianto didn't know the first thing about aliens, hwo was he to know what sorts of ice cream flavors they might enjoy.

At Sulu's comment about him being down about it, he shrugged. "Yeah, well. Not everyone as laid back about it as you are. Most people just think I'm being difficult. Or give me the whole, 'what d'you mean, y'don't like ice cream? What sorta kid are you are you anyway?'" he said, faking an accent with a thicker Welsh twist than his own. And well...even if he was imitating his father, Sulu would be none the wiser about that.

[parked]

"Yeah, like. Any ice cream they have, they can make a shake for it. And they have a lot of flavors, so..." He shrugged. Some places still refused to make shakes out of whatever they had, sticking to just a few flavors, but with the advent of replicators, it became hard to keep yourself traditional.

Sulu really didn't know that Ianto was imitating his dad; he just laughed and waved a hand. "Man, who cares. Like, we're practically adults," okay, a few years off for Sulu, but still, "We can like and not like whatever we want, y'know?" Of course, Sulu couldn't imagine not liking ice cream, but he wasn't going to say that to the other kid, that was for sure.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto laughed, shrugging at the 'practically adults' comment. "Well... I dunno about you, but. I've only got one more year before I'm legal to be doing mostly everything in the UK," he said, trying not to sound smug about that. Well, alright, so. It only was another year before he could order drinks in pubs legally, after all (not that anyone paid attention to that. Not that...he really got to go out to pubs, anyway).

"But yeah," he said, with a smile at the other boy, easing his way back into a more relaxed mood, "I... I guess you're right. We can do whatever we want, can't we?" With no adults around to dictate what they were doing, it...was pretty empowering, really.

[parked]

"It's still eighteen here," Sulu said, grousing good-naturedly. "But whatever, it's not like there are any adults around to tell me that, you know?" It wasn't like they were getting into any trouble - well, any trouble that their parents would hold against them. Then again, he had no idea what Ianto's family thought was bad for his age. "So... is there anything else you want to do, anyway? I mean, after ice cream?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head, blushing sheepishly. "No, I... I can't really think of anything," he replied. Which didn't mean that he wanted to go back. Aside from getting lost, he was generally enjoying himself there with Sulu, and...his Tad would probably have noticed that he wasn't around by then, so he was bound to be getting in trouble when he got back. The least he could do was make it last for as long as he could. The punishment would just be the same anyway, after all. "This is...honestly, a lot more than I do in a regular day, anyway, so... It's fine, it's. It's good. Whenever you want to...y'know, send me back home, I'll go. It's alright."

[parked]

Sulu waved a hand. "We've got a while before I'm supposed to be home, pretending to be grounded, so we can just wander around, or something." He'd suggest going out into the actual city, but that might be a bad idea, given the fact that Ianto almost got lost on just the boardwalk. He'd consider it, though. There were some predominantly alien areas of the city that would probably be interesting for the other boy, after all...

Sulu almost missed the sign for the ice cream shop he was looking for, but when he saw it, he grinned and led Ianto toward it. "Here we go. Just pick out whatever you want, okay?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled at Sulu's comment about pretending to be grounded. "You've got a lot more guts than I do, going out while you're supposed to be confined to the house and all," he said, with a grin, sounding...well. Impressed really. Then again, his Tad was probably more horrid than either of Sulu's parents at their worst moments, but. That was another thing entirely.

At the comment about the ice cream shop, though, Ianto turned and let himself in, holding the door open to Sulu before he turned and looked at the board of what exactly it was that was being offered there, and almost staggered because of it. "...duw," he said, as he looked at all of the options. What did he want? What most struck his fancy? He gave it a proper moment's thought, before deciding. "...black raspberry," he said, turning to Sulu. "We just. We've got vanilla and chocolate and strawberry back home, but. Black raspberry... That's something new." In a milkshake, of course, but that was a given by that point.

[parked]

It was hard for Sulu to not be a little smug from Ianto's reaction to the massive selection of the ice cream shop; after all, it meant that his century was definitely doing something right. Still, he played it off as best he could, giving the menu a half-hearted look over, already knowing what he wanted. After all, he'd been here often enough to know what he liked and what he wanted right then.

"All right," he said, grinning at Ianto's decision. "Yeah, a lot of places only serve a few choices just to make things easier, but that's why we can still have specialty shops." He led the way up to the counter, ordering a black raspberry milkshake for Ianto and two scoops of peach for himself. It wasn't as sweet as other flavors, and Sulu wasn't feeling anything incredibly sweet at the moment. The order was filled within a few minutes, and soon he was handing a large milkshake over to Ianto. "Hopefully you like it, man." He was pretty sure he would, but still.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto accepted the milkshake from Sulu and took an experimental sip. He nodded in approval, flushing a little. "It's good," he agreed. "I just... Have to let it melt a little first." It was probably one of the dorkiest, most embarrassing things to have to admit in his books, but brain freeze headaches were the worst and he'd rather not get one if he could help it.

"Peach ice cream, though?" he asked Sulu, nodding to the other boy's order. "Is that even...any good? I mean. It sounds pretty weird." Not as weird as some of the flavors on the list, though. Even the idea of melon ice cream was pretty rank, as far as Ianto was concerned.

[parked]

It said a lot about Sulu's hobbies and preferences that he didn't find the idea that Ianto needed to take it slow with his shake weird or funny. It was just a thing, as far as he was concerned - there were plenty of people in his class that had weirder habits. (Then again, there were one or two kids who grew up on the moon, and they were always kind of weird.)

"I like it," Sulu said, shrugging. "I figured I shouldn't order something lame like chocolate or something, since, y'know." He waved a hand. "It's the future. You can try some, if you want." Even if Ianto didn't really like ice cream, he could probably handle one taste, right? Well. It was polite to offer, anyway.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at the idea of eating peach ice cream dubiously, but he knew better than to pass judgment without at least trying it for himself. He didn't really like ice cream, it was true, but one bite wouldn't give him brain freeze and well. It was like Sulu said. It's the future, and he would probably only get this one chance to visit. Well, maybe he could come back at some point. That would have to be after his father was done tanning his hide after having disappeared for the whole day, though.

"Yeah, alright," Ianto said, after a moment. "If you wouldn't mind." He shot the other boy a small smile and a shrug. "You only live once, right?" he said. Not that trying a weird flavor of ice cream was really living on the wild side, but. Hey. To each their own.

[parked]

Grinning, Sulu made sure that the spoonful he was about to offer was small enough that nobody under the age of five would ever get a brainfreeze off of, then held the spoon out to Ianto. "Here you go," he said, unable to keep some of the humor out of his voice because, well. Ianto was treating ice cream like it was going to be some kind of daring act, and he couldn't help but laugh at that. "It's not super sweet, so don't worry about that, yeah?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shot the other kid a look, making it clear that his humor was only mildly appreciated and if he went any far to make fun of Ianto trying to make fun of the situation it wouldn't be appreciated, before he took the spoon from Sulu. It was weird, sharing a spoon with another boy, but whatever, it wasn't like he was going to die from it, or anything, and tried the ice cream. It...wasn't bad. It was just weird. And it was kind of sweet, but not in the way that chocolate or vanilla was, but more...fruity. Ianto shrugged, handing the spoon back. "It's alright," he said. "Kinda weird, though, really."

[parked]

Luckily enough for the both of them, Sulu wasn't about to really try making fun of Ianto - at least, definitely not about this. As Ianto handed the spoon back, Sulu just shrugged over his decision on it, taking a larger spoonful for himself. He'd shared ice cream with a few people before and it just didn't register as something weird anymore.

"Yeah, it's a little weird I guess, but I like it. But hey, at least you got raspberry and not peach then, right?" After all, Ianto didn't seem to think his own shake was very weird - then again, shakes were different.