parked | Log with Ianto: Date Night

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Log with Ianto: Date Night

It was strange, really, how much effort Sulu had put into preparing for this date with Ianto. His usual modus operandi was to comb back his hair a bit, throw on a tee-shirt and jeans and just, well, show up. No flowers, no chocolates, no presents, just a casual sort of attitude that usually worked wonders to make the whole situation less stressful for both parties.

But. Ianto was not part of his usual style and Sulu found himself taking twice as long getting ready as he did for anyone else. Hell, he'd even went shopping for clothes he'd never normally wear (with Gwen, who he was pretty sure enjoyed putting him through the wringer when it came to Ianto), put effort into how his hair looked, took three double-glances in the mirror - Jesus. It was only a date.

With Ianto. The guy who had this uncanny ability to make him feel like his awkward fifteen-year-old self just by grabbing his hand.

At least he had an excuse for the gift - he'd told Ianto that he'd bring him a plant, and it was Ianto's birthday present, anyway, so it wasn't like this was specifically date-related. He could still pretend to be at least a little casual about these kinds of things. You know, despite the fact that his stomach twisted into knots as soon as he called Ianto to make sure that no last-minute Torchwood business had come up.

World hopping, luckily, did nothing to mess up his hair (not that you could really mess up the generic look it always fell into when he tried to style it), nor did it cause the plant he had in hand to wither, wilt, or otherwise be destroyed. He'd gone out of his way to find a nice pot for it, something a little more futuristic than traditional terracotta, since Ianto would appreciate that more than tradition. Hopefully.

After all, this whole date was pretty traditional. Sulu even went for the front-door approach, which he hadn't done since his girlfriend in senior year of high school. He shook himself out a bit for a second, minding the plant, so he could get rid of some of the jitters he was feeling, and then rolled his eyes at his own idiocy and just went for knocking on the door, before he could get himself even more worked up than he already was.

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Ianto took a leisurely swig of his ale, moving to rest his chin on his hand as he did so, cocking his head to smile at Sulu. "I don't doubt it," he said, casually. "I have it on good authority that you're actually rather fond of having me around, and I don't think that losing me to space bears would be your idea of a good time, especially after your last mishap with them."

Maybe it was the alcohol again, but Ianto didn't even realize how much more optimistic he was being in this moment, and how he was actually really looking forward to this whole planet visit thing. He understood that it might not be for a while, but he was a patient man, he could wait. He also understood in turn that Sulu was assuring him that the two of them would still be...dating? together? whatever it was that they were in however much time that took and well. It was reassuring. Ianto colored at that thought, and yet found that he really couldn't stop smiling at it either.

"Good authority?" Sulu asked, pretending to be bemused at the comment, "I didn't know there was a good authority on me. But, whoever they are, they got it right." He grinned at Ianto and leaned back a little, gulping down some of his drink.

His thoughts were actually closely following Ianto's at this point, though he wasn't making an effort to follow them - he was assuming that there would be more dates; that there would be more to this than just a few meetings and some hand-holding. He couldn't help but assume that, though - he liked spending time with Ianto, talking with him and just being around him, so it made sense in his mind to continue making contact whenever he could.

"I just hope that we get a chance to hit up a new planet soon. I could use the vacation - you know, more than I get when I'm with you."

Ianto rolled his eyes (gently, though, because he didn't mean it, not really), feeling that he didn't need to mention the fact that the good authority that he had on Sulu was no one else other than Sulu himself, and the comment that he'd said earlier that night about enjoying the current company.

"I hope that you get a vacation soon as well," Ianto said, playing with a chip. "God knows you need one. I mean, I don't think that your time spent sentenced to bed rest counts exactly, certainly not as a vacation." The truth of the matter was, Ianto could do with a little vacation himself. He hadn't had one in... Longer than he'd joined the community, really. "How often do you guys come upon a new planet and get shore leave to go exploring or vacationing like that, anyway?" he asked, curious.

Sulu wasn't even sure he was very good at knowing what he wanted, but he meant it all in good humor anyway, so it hardly made much of a difference.

"Bed rest never counts as a vacation, not when you're dealing with a CMO like Dr. McCoy," Sulu laughed, shaking his head, "He knows how to make you want to get back to work, that's for sure." He frowned at the question, considering it; it wasn't nearly as often as some would think, but it wasn't something they necessarily planned on.

"It really depends. Our mission is one of exploration and discovery, so we're often in areas where we have no idea what's out there. Usually we do some preliminary scans to make sure that there's an atmosphere that we can breathe, send out an away team, check for life - those kinds of things." He grinned and winked, "Pavel and I sometimes keep an eye out for planets that might be good for a vacation to suggest them to Kirk."

Ianto laughed along with him. "No, it didn't really count as vacation with a doctor like Owen, either. The two of them honestly sound kind of similar. Getting you better with excellent medicinal practices and tough love, as it is," he said with a fond smile. For all that he didn't get along with Owen sometimes, he had to admit that the other man had been a damned good doctor, and he probably owed his life to him more than once.

"Well, then," he responded, winking back at Sulu, "you'll just have to keep your eye out again for one that fits the bill of something you'd be interested in showing me. I don't think that your crew would mind that sort of thing, especially the other officers that were stranded with you on the last mission. Everyone could use a little vacation every now and again, surely your captain is aware of that, and all." Okay, yes. Ianto was excited about the idea of visiting a foreign planet. He couldn't help it, the very idea of it all was just... Him, Ianto Jones, from an estate house in Newport of all places, getting to travel the stars, even if it was only once and to only one place. Even still.

"It seems like there's some kind of rule about doctors," Sulu laughed, "The head one always has to be gruff and willing to jab hyposprays in your neck as punishment." He knew that he was dating himself a bit with that remark, but it seemed far fetched that a doctor in the 21st century would use needles the way 23rd century doctors used hypos. Still, hopefully Ianto wouldn't mind.

Sulu smiled and couldn't keep the flirtatious tone out of his voice. "I'll keep watch for somewhere that will make my life more appealing. After all, I need to keep you interested; if I don't, you might just dump me." Which, Sulu suddenly realized, implied that this was more than just one date. He was expecting so much more out of this than he had previously thought, and he was starting to get a little nervous about that - what if Ianto wasn't expecting that much from it, in the end?

Ianto shook his head at Sulu's suggestion of him dumping him, or even having to try to keep him interested. "Really, now," Ianto said, with a smile, "you'd hardly have to even try to keep me entertained. I mean, we're, what. We're just sitting at a regular old pub in the city I live in on a Saturday night, talking to each other over dinner, and well. I'm having a great time of it," he said. And alright, yes, he might have blushed a little at that statement as well, after the fact. He hadn't realized how it would sound until he'd actually said it aloud.

"I. Don't worry," Ianto said, and despite the alcohol in his system, he still couldn't keep himself from sounding a little timid as he spoke. "I have a tendency to cling on to people, if they let me," he said, trying to keep his voice light, but also hinting that yes, in fact. He would rather enjoy it if, well. If this was more than just a date. More than just a handful of dates, really, which scared him a little, but there it was, and he was going to be as honest and open about this feeling as he could, considering it was in his nature to hide things from other people.

Sulu laughed softly at that, looking away briefly at Ianto's statement. It was good that he was enjoying himself; though he imagined they always had a good time when they hung out, it was reassuring to know that in a distinctly more-than-platonic situation, they could still enjoy each other's company. "I'm glad I'm not messing up, at least."

Pausing for a moment, Sulu finally reached over and put his hand over Ianto's, looking him in the eye. "I definitely don't mind any clinging you might want to do," he said, smiling, "I'd go so far as to say I'd encourage it."

Ianto smiled softly in response to Sulu's comment about his clinging. He turned his gaze down to their hands on the table, moving his other hand to rest on top of Sulu's, effectively trapping the other man's hand between his own. "Are you sure about that?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light, but really worried about it. Some would probably go so far as to say that Ianto was possessive of his friends and, well, whatever Jack and Sulu were to him. It. It wasn't anything he could help but do.

"I. I've been told that I can get a little... Intense, I guess you'd say," he said. That had been Lisa, actually. Right after they'd first started dating. She liked to keep separate, while they were at work. He hadn't realized that, and had sought her out every minute of spare time he'd gotten. She quickly put him in his place about that, though--never let it be known that Ianto Jones didn't follow directions. "I mean. I suppose you've already got a taste of that, what with that time I came to visit you a few weeks back, and all..."

It only counted as trapping if Sulu didn't want it - but he did. He was glad that he hadn't overstepped whatever bounds the 21st century had on these kinds of things... or at least, none that Ianto cared about. He grinned and couldn't help but look intensely pleased about the whole thing. "I'm pretty sure," he said easily.

Sulu had noticed a degree of intensity to Ianto's emotional reactions to things, but he hadn't found them all that bad. He supposed that someday, he might find that kind of thing uncomfortable, but by then... well, likely by then, Ianto would be comfortable enough to not be so intense. "Ianto," Sulu said, "I'm in Starfleet. I can handle intense. Even if you get upset at me, you're not going to scare me away. The only reason I wouldn't like that kind of thing - it's because I don't want to ever upset you as badly as I did then."

Ianto nodded. He understood now exactly how intense Starfleet was. Finally understood that it was up there in the same level of danger and intensity as Torchwood was. With more personnel, and better equipment, but it was still the same idea. A job where you had to keep on your toes if you wanted to be alive to see the next day and do it all over again. He got that.

He also understood that maybe, just maybe he had overreacted, before. But honestly, it had been the first time that anything had happened to make him question any of the safety or interests of the other man, and the sheer amount of possibilities, of 'what ifs', they had frightened him. "Yeah. I. I'm sorry about that time. I can't guarantee that it won't happen again, or anything like that, but. Well, now I know that there are going to be times where something similar to that occurs, so. At least I'll be ready, next time. Although."

"I can try to keep from making myself that upset at things like that, but that doesn't mean that I'll be any less happy and relieved to see you, afterwards, regardless of the circumstances," he said. It was a bit too personal of a statement to say while looking at Sulu, so he kept his eyes focused on their hands in front of them on the table.

"Don't apologize," Sulu said, realizing he was probably repeating himself from that night but not caring, "Really, don't. Like I said, we don't usually get that kind of welcome back - not when we're single on a ship like the Enterprise." And really, despite how terrible it had made him feel, Sulu had appreciated it. He'd loved it, really, especially the kissing and making up part of the deal.

Not that he'd say that aloud, of course.

"I'll make sure to keep coming back, then," Sulu said with a smile, "So you can keep being happy and relieved. I'd hate to disappoint you, otherwise."

Ianto could take this two ways, but he realized that, since they were on a date, he was enjoying himself too much to keep the conversation serious either. So instead he smiled back at Sulu, and joked back at him. "You'd better make sure to," he said, mock threateningly. "You don't want to disappoint a Welshman, after all. We're known to get more than a little cross, when you do."

Okay, so Ianto wouldn't be cross, if Sulu up and disappeared on him again. It'd probably take him longer to work himself up to the state he had the first time, but he'd probably do it. He didn't really react well to being left behind, after all. Didn't react well to not knowing if someone he rather cared about was safe or not. Or well, as safe as they could be, with a job like Starfleet.

"You wouldn't want a Welsh scolding, for example," he said, continuing the light messing about that he was using to cover up the darker truths of the whole situation. "We're particularly big on guilt, and I learned how to do it from the very best, as it is."

Sulu used his free hand to cross his heart, smiling. "Promise. I hate disappointing people, especially people who are good at guilt trips." The hand that was tucked between Ianto's squeezed the hand below it; even with the light tone, and with the drinks they'd had between them, Sulu was still aware that Ianto wasn't just saying all this to be funny. There was some truth to all of it - how much, obviously, Sulu didn't know, but he was willing to find out.

"Don't worry," he said after a moment, "I'll keep coming back for you, so you don't have to use your terrible powers for evil." He winked and then reached for his glass with his free hand to finish off his drink.

Ianto smiled, and took his hand away from atop Sulu's, though he left the other one where it rested underneath it. "That's good. If my terrible powers don't work well enough, after all, there's always the option of siccing Jack on you, and I really don't think you'd like that," Ianto said, with a smirk. "You've got a taste of his temper and attitude already, after all."

He smiled, playing with his glass with his other hand, rather than drinking from it quite just yet, turning his gaze down at the table and blushing slightly. "That's good, though. That means that I haven't scared you away with all of it. Y'know, Torchwood, and well, myself. Means that I'm doing something right in all of this." Though what that something was, Ianto didn't have the faintest idea. He was just being himself with Sulu, after all.

Sulu's eyes widened briefly, though it was clear his shock was mostly for show, and he shook his head. "As if threatening me with you guilting me wasn't enough, now you're bringing Jack into it. Please," he said, mock-begging, "Don't let Jack yell at me."

He laughed to show that he was joking - though, in all honesty, having Jack go after him was the least pleasant thing Sulu could think of - and ducked his head a bit to keep his eyes on Ianto's face. He was starting to think he might be developing some kind of fetish for Ianto's blushes. "Yeah, you're doing something right. Probably all of it, really. But you can't think that a Starfleet officer would let a little thing like Torchwood scare him off." He looked a little proud when he said, "There's a lot more terrifying things out there, organization-wise. Some races would say the Federation is one of them, but." Those were Romulans and Klingons and other sorts of people who weren't part of the Federation to begin with. They didn't know better.

Ianto had to laugh at Sulu's mock-begging. "Only if you behave yourself. If you behave, then there won't have to be any guilting from me or yelling from Jack or anything of the sort." He smiled at Sulu. "I don't think that there'll really be any trouble from you, though. Not really. You've behaved yourself so far, after all."

"I know there are worse organizations out there," Ianto said. "Torchwood used to be one of them. Torchwood One, that is. The branch that I used to work for, before..." Had he mentioned the fall of Torchwood One? He doubted it. It really wasn't a topic he'd want to bring up with Sulu here, though, not when they were supposed to be enjoying themselves, so he glossed over it. "Before I transferred here to Torchwood Three, that is." Which was sort of the truth.

"But no, I mean more... More the fact that I work for Torchwood, which is just as busy and as dangerous as your job is, after all. Another hoop that we have to jump through in order to finally arrange for situations like these. Or, well. Dates. That is..." Ianto blushed again, turning his eyes up to look at Sulu, "assuming you're on for more. I... I was sort of getting the impression that you were, after all."

Briefly, Sulu wondered if Ianto had any idea how much trouble Sulu was actually capable of in this kind of situation (this kind of relationship), but he refrained from asking or thinking too much about it. Ianto really didn't need to know, especially since he was right: Sulu had been behaving himself. Watching what he said and everything, taking criticism from past dates to heart.

Still, he had a feeling Ianto wouldn't be entirely opposed to a little trouble-making, but. Probably not in public.

He'd heard bits and pieces about Torchwood One, and Sulu knew well enough that that was not a story for this setting, so he smiled and let the conversation wind on. "I think I would definitely like to see more dates in our future," he said with a grin. "But really, don't worry about it. Both of us have intense jobs, but we'll figure out how to make this all work. We're doing pretty good so far, I'd say."

"Well, then. It's good to hear that we're both in agreement on the more dates front, then," Ianto said, with a smile. Honestly, he'd be looking forward to a night where they could stay in now, more than anything, having gotten a little taste of what that would be like a few weeks ago with his visit to the Enterprise. "I hope you aren't looking to visit more pubs all the time, though," he joked. "After a while, you're going to start to realize that they're all pretty much the same."

"And yeah," Ianto said, with a grin, finally moving to take another drink of his ale, "we are. Doing pretty well, that is. I mean. Aside from the whole picking a day for this date thing, I don't really know that we've had any trouble at all, touch wood," Ianto said, putting his hand down on the wooden table they were sitting at for a moment. His British was showing, as it was, unconsciously, a fact in itself that showed he was relaxed with the situation.

"At least a dozen more," Sulu said with a grin, his expression clearly indicating that he was hoping for more than a dozen, that was for sure. "And no - as nice as this place is, and as fun as it is to be out in this century, I really wouldn't care what we might do later on." Whether it be wandering around, sitting at the Hub, or relaxing at Ianto's - he wouldn't care. Of course, Ianto had made it clear that at least one of these dates of theirs was going to have to happen on the Enterprise, and that... that could be fun as well.

Sulu was secretly a pretty superstitious person - not enough to bring it up in public, but enough that when Ianto put his hand to the table, he knew exactly what it meant, why you did it and why he completely agreed with the act. "Yeah, don't want to jinx that right on the first date," he grinned, "But honestly, other than work, we shouldn't have too much of a problem arranging time together." That, and Jack - but honestly, Jack was okay with this, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Ianto's reaction to Sulu's words was a slow-blooming smile. "There's plenty of things that we'd be able to do," Ianto said. "This is a whole different century for you to explore. There's bound to be dozens and dozens of options there." Dozens of options that, judging by his smile, meant a separate date for each one of them, and Ianto was fine with that. He was more than fine with that.

"And no, I guess work's our only obstacle," he said, thinking on it. "Which is extremely lucky for us, really." It was too bad that the pair of them both lived and breathed work, though. Then again, there was still enough room in Ianto's life to make room for Sulu to be there as well. He wasn't too concerned about it, in that moment.

He ate some more chips off the platter in front of them, and realized that they'd all but finished the platter, and their drinks. "Was this enough for you?" Ianto asked, motioning to the food and drinks. "I mean, we can always order more, if not." Ianto himself wasn't too terribly hungry, but that was probably to the excitement about what seemed to be everything in his life that was bubbling up from inside of him.

"A lot changes in 200 years," Sulu said in agreement, "I'd like to see what we're missing out on." It'd be neat, to see all the things that have gone out of style since this century, to see if there were things that should have stuck around. It'd be even nicer to know that he was experiencing things that Ianto experienced - and that he'd be doing it with the other man.

"I think I'm okay," Sulu said with a grin, having pretty much eaten his fill. "And we can move around work. I have breaks and days off, and you have times when things aren't too crazy, so." His thumb stroked Ianto's hand briefly. "We're in pretty good shape, all things considered. Besides, we're patient enough guys, we can figure it out."

"Yeah," Ianto said. "I mean. Well, technically, most of my days are pretty casual. I have a lot of chore type things to do around the Hub, mostly, so. That's alright. It's only the fact that there's no guarantee what day will bring something that I need to be there for and what days won't have anything at all that's really the issue, with Torchwood."

"But you're right," Ianto said. "We'll figure it out. I mean, we did it this time, didn't we? And we had space bears and UNIT meetings to contend with. I... I won't say that we won't have things of a similar sort to have to work around in the future but. That's got to give us some hope, right? We've done it once, we can do it again, and all."

"Anyway," Ianto continued along his question about the food, then, "should I pick up the tab, then, or do we want to stick around a while longer? Not that I don't like sitting and talking to you, that is. I just feel bad for holding the table when we've finished." That and well. He would like a few moments together in private, before Sulu had to go, he realized. He wouldn't say that aloud, it would sound to presumptuous of him, but. It was true nevertheless.

"Hey," Sulu said with a shrug, "You know, I can help you with some of the load. At least," he added with a bashful smile, "I can when it comes to the hot house. If you need an extra pair of hands, I mean, and barring I'm not on duty, I'd like to help you out." And maybe that was partially because he wanted to see a little more of the aliens Torchwood had to deal with, because he had a concern that maybe the alien life they encountered were from his universe, somehow, but the most pressing intention was to help Ianto.

"And..." He glanced around, taking in the pub for a moment, before looking back to Ianto - his expression changed as he really looked at the other man. "...Yeah, I think we can go. Don't want to hold anybody else." Besides, Ianto had a perfectly good couch at his flat. Right?

Ianto blinked. He hadn't even thought of that, that he had the option of roping Sulu into some Torchwood work as well. Or, at least the botany work. "...would that be alright?" he asked, almost unsure about it. After all, involving Sulu in Torchwood, even just with the plants, that would have him in the Hub when some of the most dangerous things possible could go down. Rift flares, invasions, attacks on Torchwood... Who knows what could happen. "You already have one job, I mean. You'd just be working on your time off then. And... There's always the danger that something could happen..." Ianto fretted.

Ianto absentmindedly signaled the waiter for their check, and it was quickly at the table. He stuck one of his credit cards in the folder, and the waiter left to take care of it. Ianto, however, was fixated on the idea of Sulu coming to help out with the plants at Torchwood, being there while he worked sometimes. "Not," he added quickly, realizing how it might sound, "not that I don't want you here. I mean, I do. I just... Are you sure?"

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