Log with Ianto: Date Night

[parked]

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.

Comments

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto hummed under his breath, shrugging not really sure whether the watch still kept time or not. He hadn't really looked at it too much--as soon as he'd gotten it from Jack, he knew that he wasn't the one that should really be holding on to this sort of thing. "It's worth a try to see if you can wind it up, when you get back to the ship. Maybe if you set it to the time here, we can figure out just what the time difference is between the Enterprise and Cardiff is, anyway."

Ianto slowly brought his eyes up to look at Sulu at the question about keeping the watch, though. "Yeah," he said, almost immediately. "I am sure. I mean, sure, Jack picked it out for me, but. I have a feeling that he knew that I'd hand it over anyway. And, I mean. Like I said, you have a more reliable schedule than I do. Chances are that you'll have a lot more opportunity to make the hop down here than I will to the Enterprise. And besides, I probably stick out there like a sore thumb, anyway. And anyway. You... You get to see more of the planet, this way. Y'know, the rain and such. So you don't have to miss it as much. Even. Even if Cardiff isn't exactly home for you, or anything. It's better than nothing, yeah?"

Honestly, Ianto would be lying if he didn't want Sulu to keep it just so that he could have something physical to tie the two of them together as well, but he wasn't quite sure that he was ready to tell Sulu something like that, especially before they'd even gone on their first date yet.

[parked]

Sulu nodded at Ianto's explanation; he'd understood the reasoning before now, but there was something about Ianto explaining to him face-to-face that he wanted Sulu to have the watch... It made him feel warm from the inside out. "All right, then. I - even though it's your present, thank you, Ianto. I should leave it in the box for now, since I don't really want to put it in my coat and then accidentally touch it later, but. I'm glad you want this kind of link."

Because even if Ianto wasn't going to bring it up, Sulu fully understood the implication of them having the Portkey between their homes. He paused for a second before replacing the box back on the coffee table; after that, he reached out for one of Ianto's hands. "Seriously, thank you."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto ducked his head and his eyes, flushing as Sulu took his hand in his own, his breath speeding up embarrassingly at the simple contact of skin on skin. Ianto told himself it was just because they hadn't seen each other since that last time in Sulu's cabin, when they'd had to stop themselves from going further than they really should have, because it had just been so easy, it would have been just so easy to let go right then and jump head-first into the situation without thinking about it, but. They didn't, and Ianto was proud of the both of them for it, even if he was a bit embarrassed at the implications that the two of them both wanted to take it slow. At the implications of the fact that Sulu obviously understood what Ianto had in mind besides just the jumping of the Portkey when he gave it over to him.

"It's not a big deal," Ianto said, flushing as he kept his eyes lowered. "I. I want it to be like this, so. I'm giving it to you. And. I hope you don't mind that I do want that. I mean, you obviously don't have to take it or anything. I just. I thought that maybe..." He bit his lip, turning his eyes to the side but still not looking at Sulu. "Maybe we could have this, y'know? Or. I don't know, maybe that's silly. I... I really don't know that I'm capable of thinking straight, at the moment." God, did he really just want something, anything to calm his nerves in that moment. It was even worse than usual.

[parked]

Sulu couldn't deny that he liked the noticeable effect he seemed to have on Ianto, from the blushing to the change in breathing to how he stammered and looked to the side as he spoke. It felt so nice to cause those kinds of things in someone like Ianto, to treat this like a real relationship, which was something Sulu hadn't had in a while. Though, God. Him looking away only made Sulu want to draw his attention back in some very-not-slow sorts of ways.

"Of course I'm going to take it." He stepped closer to Ianto, reaching up with his free hand to put a hand on the other man's face, to try and draw his gaze back to Sulu. "Really, Ianto. I'm honored that you want me to have it, and that you said yes to this whole date thing, and that you humored me and my... really terrible plant nerdiness just a few minutes ago." He smiled encouragingly, "I'm glad, I really am."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto chanced to look back at Sulu then, both with the hand on his face and the fact that he knew that that was what Sulu had wanted him to do, but putting his hand there in the first place. He smiled slightly back at Sulu's smile, finding that he couldn't help but be encouraged to do so with the combination of both the smile and the words behind it.

"Don't make me sound so noble," Ianto said, quietly, "you probably would have done the same thing if I had gotten the nerve up to ask you in the first place, or if I had started to go on about archiving and what have you." He smiled. God, he really wanted to kiss the other man right then, but he was afraid that once they started, he wouldn't be able to stop, and anyway, he was really looking forward to this date. As it was, he swallowed, trying hard not to pay attention to the fact that Sulu's hand was on his face, and Ianto was really starting to develop some sort of complex for the man's hands.

"We... I've picked a place for us to go out to," Ianto said, changing the topic of conversation, perhaps not as smoothly as he would have liked to, but changing it nonetheless.

[parked]

Kissing Ianto would be a great idea, and Sulu knew it - but he also knew that they'd had trouble pulling away the last time, and... If he was being honest, he was sort of hungry, anyway. Besides, they both seemed too worried and anxious about this whole date thing to make any kind of kiss worth it. He could wait.

Of course, he had to wait until they weren't somewhere public. Once they left the flat, any public displays of affection would have to be initiated by Ianto. He was the one who understood the cultural issues surrounding guys going out together, after all. But, Sulu could be patient if he needed to be, so he just smiled and nodded at Ianto's not-so-subtle topic change. "Yeah? What'd you pick out? Not another chip shop, right?" he asked, laughing - despite the fact that, didn't that sort of imply that they went on a date as teenagers? ...No, dates didn't end with broken noses. Sulu was pretty sure about that.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto snorted, rolling his eyes at that question. "No," he said, resisting the urge to punch Sulu in the shoulder for a comment like that, "not another chip shop, thanks. Though we could go back there some day, just for kicks. I'm...not sure I'm ready to take you out to the park again quite just yet, though," he said, raising a cocky eyebrow of his own. He was emotionally unstable enough at that moment to make jokes like that, that he might have questioned making otherwise.

"No," Ianto said, shaking his head, gently bringing his hand up to take Sulu's and remove it from his face, because it was really distracting, especially when he thought about the last time Sulu had cupped his face in his hands. "It's a pub, and it's a little bit away from here, so we're going to have to take my car. You should like it, though. I mean. It's a nice venue, and there's food there too. It's not just a bar, or anything." And it was not too private that they would feel self-conscious, being on a date together, nor was it too small, so that they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, being two males out to a pub together and looking more intimate than mates would. Ianto'd really put a lot of thought into planning this, after all. He'd had the time, why not try and get things right?

[parked]

Sulu smirked at that comment, giving Ianto more free room now that he wasn't trying to get him to look at him. "I promise, you can take me anywhere and I'll behave. Fifteen-year-old-me, I don't know about, but twenty-one-year-old me is perfectly sociable." For the most part, really. There was no guarantee that Sulu wouldn't mess up somehow, or that he would want to be good. But - that was another conversation altogether.

"But, yeah." He laughed, "That sounds fine. Driving, food, all that good stuff." It'd be too corny to say something about how Ianto was the part Sulu really cared about, so he refrained. He had his image to uphold; he'd been losing points all over the place for being nerdy or unsmooth, and he really needed to work on that. Of course, he probably wouldn't have worried so much about it if he'd known how much effort and concern Ianto was putting into the venue itself. "Did you want to go, then?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Sulu's comment about being 21. Honestly, he couldn't remember if he knew that that was how old the other was. After all, he certainly acted pretty mature, for the most part, although that could be the military training and discipline through fencing and whatever else he had taken lessons in that was just making him seem older than he actually was. Ianto'd think about it later, though. Right now, he was standing with Sulu's hand around his, and he didn't much care how much older either of them was than the other, just that they would actually be doing this soon.

"Yeah," Ianto said, "we could go. I mean, if you don't mind. We don't really need reservations, or anything, it's not that kind of a place, but. I'm sure it'll fill up more the longer we wait, y'know? I wouldn't want to have to wait in a line for this, or anything. I mean. If you're ready to go now, that is..." He couldn't imagine why the other wouldn't be ready to go, but he felt that it was only fair to ask, anyway.

[parked]

Laughing a little at Ianto's apparent eagerness, Sulu nodded and went so far as to take a step towards the door, tugging lightly on Ianto's hand as he did so. "Of course I am. After being stuck as a woman, dealing with space bears and McCoy's bedside manner, having to file through paperwork and you having UNIT to deal with, I am completely ready to go out with you right now."

And that was the truth. Sulu had dealt with way too much crap this past month, and now he was more than ready to spend time with Ianto and forget all about the things he had to deal with. Like, say, talking to McCoy and getting him to lay off him for having connections to the 21st century. It wasn't like they were the same universe, after all. All he wanted now was Ianto. That was a worrisome statement, he knew, but it was the truth, so he'd have to accept it.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto laughed, allowing himself to be pulled along that step toward the door, having no complaint about heading out to the car and on toward their date. Ianto had specifically planned it so that they wouldn't have to travel too far to get to their destination, either. True, they had to travel out of Grangetown, but really, there weren't any good places for this event in Grangetown anyway, and there was too much of a chance that he'd be recognized there than where he'd been planning it all.

He walked toward the door, pausing to grab his wallet and his keys from the table in the hall, slipping his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. He hesitated, but picked his phone up as well, slipping it into his jacket. Jack knew that they were going out that night, and he also knew that Ianto was abundantly clear that should he interrupt unnecessarily, there were going to be some pretty dire consequences from Ianto, so. Hopefully Torchwood would be off their backs for now.

"Let's go, then," Ianto said, all but dragging Sulu out the door. "We both get to sit in the front, this time," he said, smiling as he remembered fondly the last time the two of them had sat in the car together (remembered the sitting in the car fondly, not the part that came after that, that was). "I'm afraid you'll have to put up with my cautious driving, again, as well." Ianto wasn't prone to reckless driving, not to the same extent that Jack was, but in any case, he was already on enough of a roller coaster of emotions, without having to add automobile excitement to the thick of it as well.

He headed out to the car, locking the door behind him, all the while still keeping a firm grip on Sulu's hand. To hell with the neighbors, they really weren't going to get to do this in the restaurant, better milk it for all that it was worth then, Ianto thought.

[parked]

Sulu laughed, allowing Ianto to drag him - well, no, he was keeping up of his own volition, squeezing the hand in his as they headed outside. He remembered Ianto's talk of how strange it was for men to date in this year, how holding hands was one of those no-go situations, so he was suitably impressed by Ianto's boldness. They were definitely on the right track, here, weren't they? (Sulu admittedly had no real way to gauge things in 2010, but he tried his best with what he had.)

"I'm perfectly fine with your driving. It's fine, I'd rather not risk us getting pulled over or something tonight. You know, since things are generally supposed to go smoothly on the first date." He grinned, "Though, I gotta admit, your back seat is nice. Most cars I've been in aren't so roomy."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto snorted, unlocking the car doors and reluctantly letting go of Sulu's hand to cross to the driver's side door to climb in. He wondered when this had suddenly turned into a conversation about his car, of all things. "I don't know that I'd call it 'roomy', exactly. I mean... It's a sedan," Ianto said, shrugging. He never was all that concerned about the interior, so long as it was clean and there weren't any stains that needed to be taken out of the upholstery. He shut the door and put the keys into the ignition, waiting for Sulu to join him in the car before buckling and turning it on.

"I mean. Generally, I don't even really have any sort of use for the back seat, other than carting things around. It's usually just me in here anyway, or me and one other passenger, like yourself. It's... It's pretty rare to have all of Torchwood somewhere without the SUV, and well. We just don't have that many members, y'know. The back's greatest uses up until this point have probably been carting around takeout. Or, well..." Ianto stopped himself from saying that aloud, blushing at the fact that he'd even brought it up. He was pretty sure there was some sort of faux pas around mentioning any sorts of physical acts between you and your when partner when you were off on a date with your other. He thought there might be, anyway. He wasn't so sure on the rules of these things, it wasn't like he had any sorts of guidelines to follow on the matter.

[parked]

Sulu got in the passenger's side, taking his time buckling up before looking over at Ianto. "We don't have sedans like this. You guys get a bit more legroom in this sort of thing." Then again, not many people drove conventional cars, really. Sulu figured it wasn't important, though; cars and vehicles in general weren't exactly date material, were they?

Ianto's blush, as well as his reference to the back seat, really didn't go unnoticed. Sulu knew that the situation they were in was awkward for Ianto; after all, while Sulu had never personally been in this kind of position, he knew friends who were and it never seemed like a big deal. The 21st century, though - there was still a stigma against the idea of being in a relationship with more than one person.

There wasn't really a good way to ease Ianto's mind about it, and there wasn't any sort of method to handle the situation in general, so he just laughed and nodded, deciding to treat the situation like he would normally. "That's sort of the point of a back seat, I thought."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto, who had been pulling out of his parking spot and onto the road, had to focus pretty hard on his driving not to blush or think too hard about Sulu's backseat comment. "Well... I suppose that it is," he said, trying to play off his reaction as being normal and smooth, but really knowing that he was about as far from smooth as he could be at that moment. The question that ran through his mind at that moment, though, was whether to react as he normally would, or to go one step further and play it off. They, well. They were on a date, after all. Sulu seemed to have no sort of problem playing things off like that, so maybe... Maybe he should too? Taking a breath, he thought he'd give it a try.

"I. Since you aren't familiar with sedans like this, I will tell you that backseats, regardless of how roomy they might seem, really aren't roomy enough for those things when you get right down to it," Ianto said, blushing. "I mean. Certainly... Certainly not for someone as tall as. Well...me." He kept his eyes firmly planted on the road. There was no taking back a statement like that, so he had to just hope that it came across as...well, not smooth, because it wasn't. But as showing that he wasn't freaking out too much about everything. Because he wasn't. Sure, his heart rate was up, but that was mostly with anticipation for it all than anything else.

He almost immediately started second guessing himself on that comment, though, and fought for something else to say. "It's, ehm...it's only about 5, 10 minutes from here. The place we're headed to, that is."

[parked]

Sulu was honestly surprised that Ianto had gone along with it so easily; he had half-expected some flustered response, and had considered the fact that he could very well be ruining the mood once more. But Ianto rolled with it as best he could, considering how anxious they both really were in the situation.

Sulu let the conversation change go with a laugh, because really, that was a problem in every time, wasn't it? Being tall, and - well, Ianto was probably pretty flexible. He had to have made it work.

Nodding his head as he tuned quickly in to what Ianto was saying, he pushed that whole line of thought out of his head. "That's fine. I'm actually kind of hungry, anyway." Nerves all day had made it a pain to try and force down replicated food, after all.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Well, that's good," Ianto said, with a smile, hoping he wasn't being too awkward about all of this. "I mean, that is the point of going out to a restaurant, after all. Eating I mean, that is." God, where was all of that courage that he had found before, when he'd met with the other man in his cabin on that one day? Ianto'd really appreciate if he could have it back, and preferably before he made too much of a fool of himself.

Right, okay. Maybe... Maybe he should talk about the place that they were headed to. "It's. We're going to 'The Prince of Wales'," he said, turning to smile briefly at Sulu. "I thought you might get a kick out of the name. It's... It's big. Doesn't really have a regular crowd, so we don't have to worry about y'know, taking anyone's usual seat and starting some sort of bar fight, or something. It's an old theater that they converted into a pub, and the top floor's a restaurant as well, so. That's..." Ianto realized he probably shouldn't have been explaining all of this, it wasn't very romantic to reason his way through his choice of restaurant, but it was too late now. "That's why I chose it, for the atmosphere and the food," he finished, lamely.

[parked]

Sure enough, Sulu grinned at the name, thinking it was perfect for their date. He refrained from making any comments about it, though, because they'd all be silly and corny and he really didn't want to do that right now. Maybe later.

He leaned into the seat comfortably, looking out the windshield at the things they were passing, and idly realized that he really was okay with all of this. Occasionally, thoughts of the different timeline issue had crossed his mind, and it had been slightly worrisome. After all, Sulu was 200 years ahead of Ianto, and they were in different universes altogether. There was the prime directive, there were protocols -

But, even with all of that... Sulu was all right with it. It was all fine. He looked over at Ianto briefly, and smiled a little. "I appreciate the thought. We should probably wait until the second or third date to get into a barfight, anyway. Can't do all the fun stuff the first night, after all."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, smiling, his head reeling at the suggestion of a second or third date. Sure, he'd known that it would be a possibility, more dates, and had even rather been expecting there to be some. But the fact that they hadn't even really gone on their first and Sulu was already mentioning wanting to go on others, well. That had to be a good sign, right?

"I'm not exactly sure that I'd really enjoy getting into a barfight on any dates, really. Not if I can help it, at least. Not something that I exactly aspire to be involved in someday, or anything."

True to his word, the pub that Ianto was talking about really wasn't that far away, and Ianto was suddenly pulling up to park across the street from a impressive looking stone building that clearly was the destination that they were aiming for, both from the description Ianto gave, and from the sign out in the front. "Here we are," Ianto said, putting the car into park. "I've only been once or twice myself, but it was pretty good those times that I remember, so. I... I hope you like it." Ianto couldn't help but be a little nervous at his choice, as he unbuckled and moved to get out of the car.

[parked]

"They're not much fun," Sulu observed casually, "You know, everyone's had too much to drink, the reason for it is usually stupid, half of your punches don't connect... You end up looking like an idiot, even if you win." Not that he'd participated in any fights directly; Sulu was more the kind of guy to passively let his friends fight their fights for whatever reason they decided they needed to. It didn't help that he was always drunk when those things happened.

Sulu followed Ianto's moves to get out of the car, looking across the street to eye the place Ianto had picked out with an appreciative gaze. It looked old, even by 21st century standards, and it was just as big and impressive as older buildings usually looked. "The whole thing's a bar?" he asked, "It's pretty huge for a pub." The exterior also made him wonder if they were a little too casually dressed, but Sulu had a feeling Ianto never went anywhere underdressed.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Well, sort of," Ianto said, locking the car and looking both ways before leading the two of them across the street towards the building. (That was all he needed, to have either of them hit by a truck or something this close to the date actually happening.) "I mean, like I said, it used to be a theater, and they really haven't changed too much of the inside, or anything. The bottom floor's more like a pub, while the top floor, with the balconies, it's more of a sit down and eat sort of affair. Both floors have bars, but..." Ianto turned to the other, slowing down so that they wouldn't get to the doors quite just yet, not without covering a little bit more first. "Don't worry about how it looks on the outside, it really is a pub, I swear. I mean, it's one of the nicer ones, but. I mean, you look nice too, so. Don't worry about it."

"I figured I might leave which floor we end up on up to you. I mean, this is your first time eating out in Cardiff, after all. Because no," he said, with a quirk of his eyebrow, "the chip shop, while excellent, really doesn't count. So..." he said, smiling at the other, taking a minute to stand back and admire just how nice Sulu looked in that blazer, "which'll it be, then?"

[parked]

Sulu generally imagined theaters to be smaller, less imposing structures, so he chalked up the confusion to time and-or cultural differences. He smiled at Ianto's compliment, deciding to himself that he'd probably need to go and get a hold of more clothing like this. After all, if Ianto thought it looked good, it had to.

He thought over the choice for a moment, wondering which one would be better off. Ianto's mention of bars on both levels made him think that maybe a few drinks wouldn't go completely amiss right now, and besides. They weren't really a fancy dining sort of couple. (They were a couple, right? At least for tonight?) "We should probably go for the pub. It'll be a little more..." He waved a hand, grinning bashfully, "My style, honestly."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Your style, eh?" Ianto asked, with an almost cocky smile. Sitting at the pub tables would be a lot more relaxed than the sit-down style, honestly. Probably better to start of with the two of them like that, all things considered. He grinned, nodding, and moved to lead them into the pub himself. He'd been there before, so he knew how to go about getting them a seat and where would be the best table in regards to how far from the kitchen and the bar and the music they would be, because Ianto paid attention to things like that even when he had absolutely no reason to.

Ianto found then a tall table with a pair of stools for the two of them park themselves at, and sat down at one of the stools. "Does this work for you?" he asked. "I mean, there's always sitting at the bar, but." He gestured over to the crowd that that was sitting over there, and they weren't all that inviting, especially not to two people who might be stumbling over each other until they really got their conversation going enough. Ianto wasn't sure how well he could hide the fact that they were, well, on a date, from other people. "This might be the better choice, after all," he said, making a bit of a face.

[parked]

Sulu followed Ianto in, confident that the more casual style of the pub was going to be better for both of them in the long run. Not to mention, he wouldn't feel so awkward getting something to drink when they were somewhere that basically required alcohol.

"Nah, this is fine," he said, taking the opposite stool for himself. He glanced over at the bar before shaking his head. "Yeah, I don't really like sitting at the bar. Plus, I doubt it's really the kind of... the whole mood we're going for, you know?" He grinned at Ianto, knowing full well that the other was trying to keep their whole situation on the downlow. He couldn't help but tease him a little about it. After all, other than giving this meeting a distinctly romantic title, they really were going to probably be doing what they normally did - hang out and talk about whatever came up.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto ducked his head, blushing, as he thrust the drink and foods menu toward Sulu. "No, I doubt that it is," he said, trying to play it cool at least with his voice, since he couldn't exactly keep control over how ridiculous his actions were. "I mean, people at the bar are usually looking to pick other people up, and well. I'm quite happy with just the two of us tonight, thanks," he said, picking up a bar menu of his own to hide behind for a second while he collected himself.

Ianto had been there once before, but he hadn't really taken the time to peruse the selection himself, and decided that reading the descriptions of the ales one by one was as good a way as any to keep himself from getting too worked up about this. Although the promise of an ale after he'd made a decision was definitely a deciding factor in why he wasn't quite so jittery as he might have otherwise been.