he has never been so humiliated

[parked]

That virus was awful. At least it prompted me to actually go through that creepy "meme" and take stock of my life. I'm more than a little concerned that some of those prompt "fills" weren't too far off, but I'm going to erase that fact from my mind.

So, at least that answered some questions as to whether or not the next virus was going to be worse than being turned into a kid. It was.


[LOCKED TO JACK HARKNESS]
And now that all I have to deal with is my immense humiliation by your hands, Jack, I really did want to talk to you. How are you, after your visit to the hospital?
[/LOCKED]


((OOC: Strikes hackable if you feel like you want to make even more fun of Sulu.))

Comments

[locked forever]

[51stcentury]

Sorry. That virus was just too much fun. I hope I didn't make you too humiliated. I could kiss it and make it better, if you like?

You know about the hospital?

[parked]

I think you've done enough damage to my ego for one century, thanks.

...Ianto didn't tell you. Okay. Yeah, I stopped by for a while. And the community decided to post on Ianto's behalf at one point - a voice post, uh. You should probably really take to backreading the community.

[51stcentury]

Oh. Would you like me to do some ego stroking now, then? I've been told I'm pretty good at that, too.

You "stopped by"? Stopped by the hospital room? ...Why would you do something like that?

[parked]

That's okay. None of me needs any stroking whatsoever.

Ianto asked me to come. He was... really worried about you.

[51stcentury]

You sure? Because, you know, I'm sure that there are a few out there who would be more than willing to give you a hand.

Yes. He worries. He likes to worry, it's what he's good at.

[parked]

I'm sure there are, but that's beside the point.

He sort of had a meltdown because you were in the hospital. And by "sort of," I mean he literally broke down, couldn't untie his shoes, wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. I managed to get him to eat a sandwich and get maybe five hours of sleep, but. You can't do that to him. Don't do that to him. He should be the one telling you this.

Here. That's what the community decided to post.

[51stcentury]

Shit. The community posted that?

He. He shouldn't have. I mean, I'm fine now. I got out of it alright in the end, didn't I? I always do. He didn't need to worry that much. He shouldn't have worried that much.

[parked]

Yeah, unfortunately. And once the community posts something, it never gets deleted.

You're fine now, but I can personally tell you that you didn't look like you were going to be fine when I saw you. I'm an insufferable optimist, though, so I didn't let that bother me. But Ianto's probably the biggest pessimist I've ever met, so... Why the hell shouldn't he have worried?

[51stcentury]

How am I supposed to know what I looked like, then? Its not like I saw myself like that. I was kind of otherwise preoccupied, you know?

Because he should know better. You've seen that post, so even if he hadn't told you, you know by now that it's impossible for me to die. Something happened a long time ago, and no matter how many times people off me, I keep on coming back. So. He really shouldn't have worried. I mean, I've come back every time this far, haven't I?

[parked]

But you weren't dead, this time.

[51stcentury]

No. I was in a trance. If I concentrated really hard, sometimes I could even hear what was going on around me. That didn't help much, most of the time, though. Why does it matter?

[parked]

Because you weren't dead. That means that you might not have come back. You could have been stuck like that.

Ianto really does need to worry about you, if you aren't going to think these kinds of things through.

[51stcentury]

Well, I'm not. I trust my team to get jobs done, and they pulled through for me once again, like they always do.

What is that supposed to mean, then?

[parked]

Torchwood's ability to pull you out of harm's way isn't what I'm addressing here, and you know it. I'm talking about how Ianto had no real way of knowing that you'd be all right.

It means that you need to think things through. I get that you can't die. That's great, really, it saves you a lot of worry. But shouldn't this whole thing with the phones prove to you that there are things you're still obviously affected by?

[51stcentury]

Here, look. I can die. I just come back. And dying hurts, but I come back every single time. And yes. There are things that I'm affected by. But what's the worst that could happen?

Anyway, what does this have to do with sleeping with Ianto?

[parked]

All that happened was that we ended up passing out on the couch in the room for a few hours. Of course, the virus worded it a little differently, but that's all that happened.

Look. I'm Ianto's friend, and I'd like to be yours too, so I apologize if I sound like I'm lecturing you, but I just don't want to have to see him go through something like that again. It'd be great to not see you in a hospital, either, while we're on the subject.

[51stcentury]

Really? That's all? You know, the virus made it sound a lot more exciting.

Yeah, well. It's not like I was aiming to end up in the hospital, now was I? It just worked out like that. But he saved me, him and Gwen, so. I don't see what the fuss is all about.

[parked]

You have got to be kidding me.

Don't you care about how he feels at all? Him and Gwen, since from what he told me she was nearly as upset as him.

[51stcentury]

Look. I'm sorry for making him upset and for the fact that you had to make the journey to come and sit with him for a while, really I am. But Torchwood is a dangerous job, and I'm the only one with a guarantee that I will get out of a situation alive, so I can't make any promises that it won't happen again, alright?

[parked]

And I understand that. But there's a difference between naturally dangerous and recklessly dangerous. Believe me, I know first hand that there's a difference.

But, you're the boss. I just hope that next time, you... think about what you're doing before you do it. It doesn't hurt to be a little cautious, especially when you have no idea what might happen.

[51stcentury]

What does it even matter to you? Okay, yes, you had to make a trip and probably lose some hours of free time. And Ianto was a little bit less than himself, I get that.

But why are you telling me what you think I should and shouldn't do?

[parked]

I didn't have to make the trip, and I didn't waste any time by doing so. He wasn't a little bit less than himself, either. He was a wreck, because you didn't think about how maybe things wouldn't be so easily fixed as they would be if you got... I don't know. Shot, stabbed, beheaded, any of the thousands of things that can kill a man.

So I'm telling you what I think, because I care about Ianto. I wouldn't hesitate to show up again if a similar situation arose, but that doesn't mean that I want one to.

[51stcentury]

So, what, you're like his guardian angel now or something? His fairy godmother, swooping in to make things all better with the flick of your Starfleet issued magic wand?

[parked]

No. I'm his friend.

[51stcentury]

You're an annoying bastard is what you are

[there is a pause in responding, in which Jack has a breather and goes out to brood on a rooftop for a little while, before returning with a rare apology]

Look. I'm sorry. I messed up. It was just a phone call, I was hoping that I could talk to whoever was on the other side of the line, get some information out of them. I didn't expect things to work out the way they did.

((strikes = deleted))