Log with Ianto: Whiteknighting 101

[parked]

As an adult, Sulu always took his time to make sure that his business was in order before running off to do anything. He also made sure that he wasn't doing something that was potentially dangerous to him or others without knowing how to minimize the danger. Sulu, as a fourteen-year-old boy who had been locked in a cabin for way too long, was more prone to grabbing and going; the outcome wasn't even on his radar.

He secured a world-hop, partly out of feigned nonchalance and mostly out of sheer dumb luck, and got himself transported 21st century Wales. His shirt and pants were too big for him and he had to wear what would eventually be his utility belt to hold the damned things up, but at least the shoes were manageable and he didn't feel too horribly out of place. (He'd thought about wearing what would be his uniform, but it felt wrong - and besides, the tee hid the fact that he was carrying a phaser a lot better.) Okay, so, he was at the address - now all he had to do was find Ianto's specific residence, hope that the RAF guy wasn't there, break the lock and help Ianto out of the depression he'd fallen into.

Easy.

Comments

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto came to the door when Sulu knocked on it. Since he'd cut off his video with Sulu, he'd let himself have a bit of a cry and felt better, but not by much. It was just a combination of all of the bad information and the frustration of both the situation at hand and his life in general and just combined to make him just break down for a little bit. He'd managed to finally pull himself together to go looking for the wallet in question, but only succeeded in making himself depressed again when he looked in it and found the first item of any personal value to his older self. It was a slightly dog-eared photograph of an older version of himself and what he could only assume was the future girlfriend. He'd tucked the photograph back into the wallet, and made a note not to look through any of the rest of his things while he was still there, but it didn't help him undo any of the damage.

He chanced a look through the peep hole, to realize that he'd never actually seen what this Sulu guy looked like, anyway. He opened up the letter slot to speak through it. "Er, hallo?" he said, his voice still a bit scratchy from his emotional moments that he'd been having for the last half an hour or more.

[parked]

Sulu was relieved to hear Ianto's voice - it meant that he'd gotten the right place. He knelt in front of the slot, though his eyes were focused on the door's lock. "Hey, Ianto, right?" He reached up to jiggle the handle. "There's no way to unlock the door from the inside?"

He figured he should probably have started with pleasantries, but in all honesty, he wasn't looking forward to the idea of Jack showing up and chasing him off. The sooner they were out of there, the better.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Well, it was definitely the right voice, that was for sure. Ianto could forgive him for skipping the pleasantries as well. He just really wanted to get out of there. "Y-yeah, it's Ianto."

"And no, I've tried," Ianto said. "He's...jammed the mechanism, somehow. Turning the lock doesn't do anything. I don't even know if you can pick it. I mean, I'm on the wrong side of the door to even try. You generally aren't picking locks to get out of the house, usually."

[parked]

Sulu stared at the lock for a minute, partially to see if it was just jammed and partially to see if he could will it open with his mind. Mostly the former, though. He became aware of the weight of the phaser on his belt - it would be his someday, so he figured it'd be okay if he took it. Besides, who knew what weird crap would come up in the 21st century? He figured it looked futuristic enough to bypass any gun control laws a country might have. (You can't exactly control something that hasn't been invented yet, right?)

"Well, okay, I can... blow the lock. Should be relatively quiet, I mean, it's not like gunpowder - you'd have to get out of the way, though. Or we could break a window, but that seems really unnecessary." He said it like blasting the lock off the door was the only reasonable way to go about this. "...You've tried the windows, right?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nods at Sulu, and then realizes that the other boy wouldn't be able to see him to see that he's nodding. "Yes, I've tried the windows. They're stuck as well. I'm not sure exactly what he did, but whatever it was, he didn't want me to get away. I mean, I'm sure breaking them would work just fine, but." Then he'd be leaving his house with a broken window. He was pretty sure a broken lock would be far easier and less expensive to fix than a broken window.

"What do you mean, 'blow the lock', though? What're you going to do?" he asked.

[parked]

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Sulu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose - being a dick wasn't going to help anything. He really needed to learn to hold back on the sarcasm. "Every Starfleet officer gets issued a communicator and a phaser. Just because I'm a kid now doesn't mean that it won't be mine eventually, so I just... sort of took it with me." It seemed like a good idea at the time. He looked around. "It's either that or I try to kick it down, but I've never done anything like that, so I don't know if I can."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto was automatically a lot more nervous than he had been before. He was of the opinion that if anything horrible was to go wrong, it would go wrong today. He froze, wondering what exactly what a phaser was. "W-wait! Do you even know how to use that thing? You're not going to...blow your hand off accidentally or something, are you?" he asked, nervously and unconsciously moving a bit back from the door anyway. "M-maybe we should break a window instead..."

[parked]

Sulu stared at the door in frustration. "Of course I can use it! Listen." He examined the phaser for a moment, quietly doubting himself before grinning and changing the setting to "stun" with a quick whirring noise. "See? It's on stun, it's not even going to hurt anyone. The most that it can do is, like, knock you out." He sighed. "But, if you're scared or whatever, just grab a towel so we can break a window. I can't pick the lock, I don't even know how, so we're really sort of down to two options, here, and Jack could show up any moment."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"I'm not scared," Ianto insisted, regardless of whether he was or not. "I just don't think you should be messing around with that if you're not trained..." He sighed. He wasn't going to have this argument. If only the lock was on the other side of the door. He was pretty good at picking the locks, especially on cheap places like this one.

"Go ahead and have a go if you really think you can, then," he said, tiredly, before standing back from the door. If Ianto were Sulu, and if he had any doubts, then he would request that they break the window instead. But Ianto had a feeling that Sulu and himself were pretty different from one another, so.

[parked]

Sulu only worried up until he realized he knew how to change the setting; everyone knew what the stun setting on a phaser looked like, whether or not they had actually fired one before. So, at least he couldn't kill anyone. And really, how hard could it be?

"I know I can," Sulu grumbled, "Now stand back." He had to stand closer than he'd like, just so nobody would see him pointing a weapon at a door, but he felt a surge of confidence when he aimed the phaser at the lock below the door. He pulled the trigger; his grip wasn't the best and so the phaser vibrated in his hand briefly, like a prank buzzer. Thankfully, the resulting sound was little more than a small bang and sizzle, since the laser didn't have a physical connection to the door. And his aim wasn't half bad, either.

"See?" His hands felt sort of numb, but the door wasn't locked anymore, that was for sure.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto jumped at the sound that it made, ready to start hearing yelling or something about Sulu accidentally frying his hands off, but instead he heard nothing of the sort.

Making sure that he had the wallet tucked into his back pocket, he tried the door, turning the handle easily in his hand. Okay, so, he was going to be leaving his house open for people to just go in and take things. Whatever. It wasn't like he had anything in there of value anyway.

In the light of day, Ianto looked a bit the worse for wear. His eyes were red and still a little puffy, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that looked at him that he had been crying. His jeans and t-shirt were a bit too big, though not incredibly so, but just enough to make him look a bit frumpy. Older Ianto was obviously a bit more filled-out, and taller still. "Thanks," he said, quietly.

[parked]

"No problem." Sulu was too busy being proud of himself for his impeccable aim to notice Ianto's state at first; he holstered his phaser and shook out his hands to relieve the pins and needles before looking up at the other. When he did, he finally had a chance to notice that Ianto really had been run ragged; he couldn't keep his expression from showing some pity, though he was trying.

"Man," he said after a moment, "Let's get the hell out of here. I've been forced to eat replicator food ever since this whole thing started and I could really use... something that tastes like real food." He gave Ianto a wide grin, "And, since I risked blowing my hands off to rescue you, and I don't have any money, you get to pay." It was pretty obvious that he was mostly trying to immediately direct the conversation away from the things that were causing Ianto so much grief, more than an actual desire to eat or steal Ianto's money.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto colored, very aware that he probably looked a mess, and moved his eyes to the ground. "Yeah, we could do that," he said, trying to put on a brave face. "I don't know the area very well, obviously, but there's probably a chips shop or an icecream shop or something. Nothing too fancy, I'm not sure how much money I really have." Although, Ianto supposed if the suits were anything to go by, he was pretty loaded, and just enjoyed living in a dump. Or, well, keeping his possessions in a dump, it didn't look like he lived there much."

"I've got 50 quid in cash, though, so we should be covered for the day. Though I'm not sure when Jack is getting back, so the sooner we leave, the better. Oh, and if you see a big black SUV, point it out, because I have to make myself scarce if Jack comes looking for me."

[parked]

"It's cool." Sulu didn't even know they had shops for chips, but then he remembered that Europe and America had very different interpretations on food and what to call them. He grinned, "I don't know anything at all about Wales, I haven't even been outside of the states before, so it'll be an adventure. And Jack's not even going to find us, don't worry." He frowned after a moment, though, and asked, "...What's a quid?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Sulu. Honestly, Americans. "A quid's a pound. You know, the money system that we use over here? You do know what a pound is, don't you?"

"Anyway, how can you be so sure that Jack's not going to find us?" Ianto asked. He was feeling particularly pessimistic at the moment, and he realized he probably wasn't being the best of company at the moment, but he really was grateful that Sulu had come to rescue him from his flat. He was just going to have to turn his mood up a little bit. It was just hard because, well, he'd just found out that his life was going to suck and there was nothing to do about it, and it left him feeling a little down, even after his emotional moment that he'd allowed himself.

[parked]

"I know it's money," Sulu said, a little defensively, "But we don't use money. I mean, there's credits, but it's not the same as it is here." Jeeze. "I'm from the future, remember? We're kind of over capitalism."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and added, smugly now, "He's just not. If he went off to go do something, he's busy, and if he's busy, he's not looking for you. Besides, even if he did find us, what's he going to do? Ground you?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Oh yeah. Ianto'd forgotten that Sulu was from the future, as well as from America. Usually the latter was enough for someone not to be able to understand anything about his country. At least, that was according to Ianto's own experiences.

"I don't know what he'd do. He's locked me in the flat for days rather than have to interact with me. I have no idea what the man's even like, other than the fact that he called me by my first name and knew exactly what voice to use and how to say them to get me to stop and listen to everything that he had to say. So he must know me somehow, but other than working together, and the fact that he's my boss, I have no idea."

"Anyway, let's go," Ianto said, setting off down the street. "The sooner we're out of this place, the sooner I won't have to worry about running into that man." And the sooner he could get his mind off of what it was that he'd read in those files, really.

[parked]

"Yeah," Sulu said, pulling up his pants a bit before following Ianto. "He's probably just freaked out, who knows. But we'll deal with him if he shows up. It's not like he can blame you for wanting to get out of there."

Sulu tried very hard not to close ranks with Ianto a bit, but the fact was that he was out of his comfort zone by a couple of gigamiles. Different city, different time, not to mention someone who was pretty much a stranger to him - man, maybe he should have thought this through a little more. "So, uh. You said you weren't from around here either?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

"I'm not," Ianto said, before even he realized that just answering that would make him a twat, so he elaborated. "I've visited a bunch of times. It's the closest thing we have to a capital, and the place where I live is only a half an hour drive at most away from here."

He motioned to the buildings around him. "Don't really know the layout of Grangetown, but it's a bit shit like the place I live as well, so there's bound to be a chip shop or an icecream shop or something somewhere around here." That is, if they ever got out of the rows of low-income housing that seemed to stretch on forever and never be fully escapable to the 15-year-old pessimist.

[parked]

Sulu was content enough to wander around, truthfully; there just weren't areas like this in his time and his brain, practically hardwired at this age for analyzing every little thing, was starting to run in overdrive trying to imagine how things had changed. It was just too different for real comparison, as far as he was concerned - it even smelled weird, kind of oily even. But, he was a guest and he wasn't about to go insulting the century he was in at the moment. "So, what, are you saying ice cream is only for low-rent areas or something?" He gave Ianto a mock-scandalized look, "I thought everyone loved ice cream. And what the hell does a chip shop sell?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Don't put words into my mouth," Ianto said, a bit more harshly than he would normally, since he was in a right mood. He hoped Sulu would understand and forgive him, all things considered, but joking around wasn't going to go exactly that well at the moment. "They have ice cream in these sorts of areas because everyone is cheap, and in need of a mood lift every now and again."

"And a chip shop sells chips. Er," he dug around in his brain for Americanisms, "french fries, I think you guys call them. Fish and chips, onion rings, other sorts of fried and generally horrible for your health things. Sandwiches as well, most of the time." Although, despite not having eaten much that day, Ianto wasn't very hungry at the moment. He could really go for an sundae, or some chips or onion rings, though. Any sort of 'pick-me-up' would be extremely appreciated.

[parked]

"Don't snap at me," Sulu sighed, completely understanding but not about to let Ianto get away with it. "This situation is completely not normal for me, so I'm working with what I've got. Cut me some slack." He gave the other a half-exasperated, half-sympathetic look, but didn't say anything past that. "The weird thing is that we still call it fish and chips in the states, even though it should technically be fish and fries. But the only places that usually have any worth eating are burger joints, not sandwich shops." He shrugged. "I mean, you can get replicated ones but they're not nearly as bad for you, which means they're not nearly as delicious."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto sighed as well, running a hand over his face then through his hair. "Yeah, sorry," he said. It wasn't fair to Sulu to be taking all of his frustrations out on the poor guy, after all, and Sulu'd been the one to come and rescue him by breaking him out of his house anyway. That had to give him a lot of slack, side from the whole not from this century thing. Which was weird, but not the weirdest thing that had happened to Ianto in the past few days, as it was.

"Fish and chip shops are pretty much the greasiest, most brilliant places to get fried food that you can imagine," Ianto explained. "I think they just added on sandwiches to try and branch out a little bit, so that you could get chips and sandwiches instead of just chips and, well, more fried things." Ianto continued to lead Sulu down the road to the main street that he could see up ahead. They were still in a pretty much residential-only area, streets lined on either side with the same sort of poorly kept brick flats that Ianto currently lived in. Not the best place to come to do any sightseeing in the 21st century, that was certain.

[parked]

Sulu still felt a little awkward for calling Ianto out on his bitchy attitude - he had every right to be in a bad mood - but he shrugged it off as best he could. "God, do you know how good that sounds right now? I'm not even hungry, I had something just before I came here, but I'm not used to eating replicated food all the time." Greasy, fried food, ice cream, a damned bag of potato chips would probably be great.

He almost lamented about how he'd have to get used to it eventually, but stopped himself as he opened his mouth. That would just lead back to a depressing conversation. Food was neutral, therefore safe. "Though, by the time we find someplace, we'll probably both be starving. How big is this city, anyway?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

"It isn't really that big," Ianto said. Ianto wasn't really in a hurry to go anywhere, but if they'd been jogging the whole time rather than leisurely strolling, they would have happened on a place to eat by then. "I mean, the Quay is probably only a half an hour walk from the flat, at most. 6 minutes or so by car. Pretty convenient place to live, if the housing wasn't such crap."

"As for me, anything that isn't made by me nor coming out of a can would be good right about now. What I wouldn't give for a really great order of chips and just some vinegar or mayonnaise or something..." Ianto's father generally didn't let them eat like that at home. He didn't let them do much of anything that Ianto wanted to do, really. Which was why he was going to be out of that house the first chance he got, even after this whole experience.