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]

"Don't worry," Ianto said, giving the food menu a quick once-over, "I think I've already decided what we should do for food, it's really more the drink that you should be worried about anyway." He flipped to the drink section of the menu. "As for which, well... I'm kind of partial to ales, when I'm out to a pub, so I'm going to say we should probably just stick to the drafts for the night, rather than venture into any of the harder stuff. Besides," Ianto said, tipping Sulu a grin, "the UK has some pretty amazing local brews, if you're willing to give one of them a try. We do have some imports, though, if you're into that. It really just depends on what sort of a drink strikes your fancy, yeah?"

"And, if you're worried about the alcohol, well," he leaned forward, motioning on Sulu's menu, "it does give you the alcohol content. Especially on the ales page, the ones lower to the bottom are the stronger ones, and all. If there's one thing that Wales and most of the United Kingdom knows anything about," he said, with a shrug and a smile, "it's our alcohol."

[parked]

Sulu grinned a bit as Ianto leaned over, tilting his menu a bit to give Ianto a better view of what he was pointing at. "I'm not too worried about the alcohol content. I trust you not to take advantage of me." He winked as he said it, but in truth he probably wouldn't mind something like that. He really wouldn't mind it. But this definitely wasn't the time or the place; maybe later, he'd push the bill, depending on how Ianto was feeling by the end of the night.

He put the menu on the table and crossed his arms across the tabletop, raising an eyebrow in a bit of a challenging manner. "Well, since you know more about what to drink than I do, maybe I should let you order for me. I can drink pretty much anything - it's one of those things I've trained myself for." He laughed, "You never know what an ambassador's going to offer you for a drink, and in most cultures, spit-taking isn't really a sign of good will."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Sulu. "Anything?" Ianto asked, chuckling a little. "You're trusting me to order the food and the drink? Duw. Well, alright then." He looked the menu over again, trying to find something that he thought Sulu might like. "That's a tall order, I hope you know. I've got a reputation to uphold, in these sorts of things. I can usually guess how people'd like to take their coffee, but their hops..."

Ianto raised his head, opening his mouth to ask if Sulu'd prefer light or dark, at least, or to dig something out of him to go on, but he stopped himself, shutting his mouth again, and just looked at Sulu. Nothing too strong, to start off with, because Sulu had said that he took to alcohol rather strongly, so. And... Well, the other man didn't really seem like a dark drink type of person. What might he actually really enjoy...? He looked down to his menu, putting some actual thought into this, so that when the waiter came by, he thought he might know exactly what to get.

Taking the menu from the other man, so he wouldn't be able to know what it was that Ianto ordered for him, he handed them to the waiter, putting in an order for food by the generic name of the Wetherspoon sharer for the two of them, a pint of Thwaites Highwayman for himself, and something called Celdonian Deuchars for Sulu. As the waiter left, he shot the other a look. "You left it up to me, just so you know. You have to take full responsibility if you end up with something you don't like, yeah? I'm... I'm not used to ordering for someone else, or anything," he said, with a blush.

[parked]

"I can't even pronounce half of this stuff," Sulu pointed out at Ianto's question, "And I really hate making an ass of myself in public." And besides - if he was on a date in a different century, in a country he'd only recently started visiting, he wasn't going to order a Budweiser Classic just because that was something he was used to. Starfleet was all about boldly going, after all, no matter how mundane it was.

He'd been slightly distracted by an uplift in volume by the bar, watching the people there talking and laughing, but he looked back to Ianto after a moment and was honestly a little surprised to see the other cataloging him like he was. Ianto looked down before Sulu could say anything, and so he just smiled vaguely and watched him glance over the menu.

When he placed the order and told Sulu not to blame him, Sulu just laughed. "Don't worry, I won't make you order for me all the time. But I have a feeling I can trust your judgment, here."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smirked, slightly. "Well, I should hope that you wouldn't make me order for you all the time. I mean, I. I really don't mind this time, but." He laughed, a bit embarrassed. "Honestly, sometimes I have enough trouble deciding what I want myself, you might just end up getting whatever I do all the time, if you keep it up."

He quirked an eyebrow. "It'd be interesting to see if I do guess right for you, though. I mean, maybe we'll discover another hidden talent of mine, or something? Y'know, not only can I get people's coffee right, but their alcohol as well. Not...not that I'd really be serving that many people alcohol, or even taking them out to drink, but. Y'know. It's nice to have skills, and all." God, was he rambling again? He blushed, and wished the drinks to come back faster, even though they'd barely just placed the order.

"Sorry, I..." he started, but stopped himself, swallowing, before he continued. "I'm trying to hide the fact that I'm a bit nervous, only I don't think that it's working very well. It's. It's been a while since I've been on a date, or anything like that. I, ehm. I promise not to giggle or anything embarrassing like that, but I might need to drink about half a glass of what I've ordered before I calm down enough to be, y'know." He blushed. "Tolerable, and all."

[parked]

It was endearing, how much effort Ianto was putting into trying to not show his nervousness in front of Sulu. He talked as much as he could about any particular topic, which was a good way to cover your anxiety, but the fact was that Ianto realized that was what he was doing, more often than not, and then he'd blush and stammer to a halt.

Sulu nearly reached out to give Ianto's hand a reassuring squeeze, but he decided that that probably wouldn't help Ianto's nerves any - not in this public a place. Which was bizarre to think about, really; he'd never had to consider these kinds of things when it came to dating someone. He never had to think twice about touching his date, or kissing them or anything like that. He was pretty sure this century was just very much ass-backwards, and he knew it would eventually get sorted out. But by then -

"Don't worry about it," Sulu said with a grin, "I'm not complaining. I like it when you get tongue-tied. And besides, it's not like I go out all the time, myself. I'm not exactly relaxed right now - that's what the alcohol's for."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow, looking both flustered and amused at the fact that Sulu had just admitted to liking when the fact that he got absolutely ridiculous about things, sometimes. "Well, I'm glad that you like it, because unless a miracle happens, it's not going to just up and disappear anytime soon. This, well. This issue of mine. I... I am working on it, obviously. I mean, I probably wouldn't have ever agreed to this date if I didn't think that someday, I could be completely comfortable around you." Only after he said that statement, did he realize just what that actually really implied.

"Wow," he said, surprised with himself. "Yeah. Obviously. This is what the alcohol's for, like you said. I. I'm jealous of how well you handle yourself under stress, though, really. I mean. You're certainly not making a fool of yourself blushing and stuttering at me, like I seem to be set on doing to you."

[parked]

"Someday" was the word that really caught in Sulu's mind. "Someday" wasn't a temporary kind of word. It meant more than just a handful of dates and a few months together. It was a really committed word to use. And Sulu wasn't normally much on commitment, since he preferred to go where the time took him, but - he smiled at Ianto, because honestly? Someday sounded perfectly good to him.

"It's more Starfleet training, honestly," Sulu said, "Than me being myself. I'm perfectly capable of acting like an idiot, and you know it. I've just gotten better at hiding it. You can't look like you're terrified when you're stuck in a cave with two ensigns, you know?" He chewed his lip, adding quickly, "Not that I'm comparing this date to space bears or anything. I mean, it's just... one of the good things about being in the military. You know, trying to be cool." Not that he did a very good job right there.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smirked, raising an eyebrow slightly at Sulu, and really, he couldn't help but tease a little. Sulu had done the same to him, a little, after all, it was only fair. "I should certainly hope that I'm at least a little easier to deal with than space bears." A waiter came by with water for the table, which may not have been the drink that Ianto was looking for quite yet, but he gratefully accepted it and took a sip.

"I. I think I can understand how that would make sense, being in the military. I mean. Especially the higher up you are on the ladder, and all. I mean. Torchwood might not be the military, but Jack used to be, and I've seen him deal with enough crises to know that there's a difference between how you feel and how you appear to the crew, but."

Ianto snorted. "I've never seen Jack use anything like that successfully when it comes to more everyday situations, you know? So. It's commendable, the fact that you can, even just a little. I'm...I'm about as far from military background as you could get, though, which is why, I guess, I'm the one stuttering at you and all." He snorted. "Does military training help you to not run your mouth in situations like these, too, or is it just the fact that I can't seem to keep quiet that makes it so that you can't get a word in between it all?"

[parked]

Sulu laughed, "A little easier? You aren't out to rend me limb from limb, and your company's better, so I'd say that's more than a little." He thanked the waiter as he put down the water, fiddling with the glass for the time-being instead of drinking it. He wasn't going to drink when Ianto did, after all - that would be a little silly.

He couldn't help but grin at Ianto's question, leaning his head in his hand as he gazed over at the other. "Honestly? A little of the training, but more of it comes from the fact that I like it when you talk, so I don't mind it when you talk a lot. Even if it's just nerves that get you like that."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Neither the gazing nor the complimenting escaped Ianto, and so he blushed prettily in reaction to both of them (though he would forever deny the fact that he did anything prettily, he was a man god damn it, and it was bad enough that he blushed as much as he did already).

"...because of the accent, then?" he asked, flustered. At least, he guessed it was the accent. If it was something about the actual sound of his voice, or the fact that Sulu actually enjoyed hearing what he had to say about nothing, then... Well, Sulu was going to have to say that for himself, then. Ianto was not going to let himself assume anything, here.

God, though. If Sulu knew that complimenting him got him to just babble more, then it was a dirty trick, but one that really worked. "Because, you know, just about everyone in this pub has an accent like mine. Or well, similar to mine. What with it being Wales and all. Ironic, that you'd find a lot of Welshmen in the country they're supposed to live in. You can just as easily pick up on anyone else's accent here as well, without allowing myself to go on about nothing like I apparently seem to have a penchant for doing whenever you're around." He put his face in his hands. What was wrong with him? They hadn't even gotten the alcohol delivered, yet. "D'you know, I really don't usually talk this much. Ever."

[parked]

Sulu's grin widened just a bit at the blush, absolutely enthralled by it. He'd never met someone who blushed as much as Ianto did; even Pavel was pretty good at hiding that kind of embarrassed tell. Then again, he probably had to learn fast, being so young. Ianto, though, Ianto's face would flush, and the fact that he knew it only made it better. Sulu had a feeling, though, that the blushing only really lasted for a few minutes at a time. He didn't think that, if they were in Ianto's flat, and Sulu was using the same lines on him, there would be much blushing at all.

Which was an interesting train of thought that he really, really didn't need to be following right now.

He reached over finally and patted Ianto on the arm lightly, laughing. "Ianto, the point of this isn't to direct me towards every other Welsh guy in the bar. You realize that, right?" He added with a smile, "Besides, it's not just your accent that I like."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto took his face out of his hands at the patting on his arm, although the blush really didn't go away at the add-on that Sulu tagged on at the end. Sulu was right in thinking that if they were in Ianto's flat, where Ianto could react as he saw fit, maybe. Maybe there wouldn't be as much blushing, exactly. Maybe Ianto might even be flirting more. Well, more than he was, that is. The fact of the matter was, though, that because they were in public, although it was nice to go out, it made Ianto guard himself, and well. All of that guarding had to manifest somehow, and his body chemistry apparently had decided that that was through blushing.

And yet. Ianto was curious as to where Sulu was exactly going with this train of conversation. "At... At the risk of embarrassing at least myself a bit more, it... It isn't?" he questioned, his eyes curious and guarded at the same time. He hoped it didn't come across as him fishing for compliments--he was generally curious, and it should be plainly obvious that he didn't take compliments very smoothly at all, so why would he fish for them in the first place.

[parked]

Sulu knew that they were in public, and therefore he should probably exert more of a "casual friend" vibe than a "this man's date" sort of thing, but still, he couldn't resist keeping his hand on Ianto's arm beyond the just-friends time limit. Screw it - they were on a date. Ianto could handle Sulu's hand on his arm for just a few moments, right?

"Well," he said slowly, suddenly feeling a little on the spot - it wasn't like he couldn't list off things he liked about Ianto, but it just felt a little strange to do so. He was about as good as handling compliments as Ianto was receiving them, it seemed. Oh well - he might as well just go for it. "You think that most of the stuff you talk about is just rambling, but I actually like hearing what you have to say, even about things that you don't think matter. And, well - you already know how I feel about you in general."

He laughed, moving his hand from Ianto's arm to prop his head up again, "I mean, come on. I've already complimented your eyes, your sense of fashion, the fact that you're one of the most amazing guys I've met, plus the fact that you're much more engaging than my ficus."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto tried to take all of the complimenting in stride. After all, he had asked for it, because alright, maybe he had wanted to know and such, but. He just wasn't very good at that sort of thing, regardless as to whether they were compliments he'd asked for or not. And yes, he did sort of already know what Sulu was going to say. He did know that Sulu appreciated his fashion sense, and though the eyes thing was still surprising, he was aware of that too. Even the compliment about being amazing he'd heard before, he remembered vaguely. It was perhaps the combination of all of the compliments at once as well as the head propped on his hand while he delivered them (which was really very endearing, by the way) that caused Ianto to blush very, very deeply.

And yet, he couldn't help but smile at it all. "Well... That's good to know, then," he said, trying to play off how not-so-secretly flustered and pleased he was at all of that. "I mean, I'm not as terrifying as space bears, and more engaging than a ficus, so. I suppose that there's hope for me yet, right?"

At that time, the waiters came around with their drinks, and Ianto was pretty sure that a better time for them to be delivered never could come. He moved the darker draft in front of himself, and slid the golden one in front of Sulu. "Here we are, then," he said. He smiled bashfully, grateful for the distraction off of him responding any further to the compliments, picking up the pint of beer and raising it out to Sulu, in a toast-like fashion. "Here's to hoping that I did get your order right, and all."

[parked]

Sulu continued to grin lazily at Ianto, wanting to kiss the other more than anything in that moment, when he was blushing so hard and being so damned cute, managing to play off his surprise pretty well, all things considered. "There's plenty of hope for you, Ianto Jones. At least, I'm hoping so."

Again, Sulu accepted his drink with a thank you, both to the waiter as he set it down and to Ianto as he slid it over to Sulu. He laughed at the toast, because honestly, he couldn't imagine Ianto striking out. After all, Ianto had never had Romulan ale or Saurian brandy, and neither of those things tasted nearly as good as most beers or ales. Though, he imagined he probably could have asked Scotty for some tips on various European drinks. He probably should have.

Lifting his own glass briefly, Sulu took a very professional gulp, then one more for good luck, because that was the only way hops really helped ease his nerves. "Not bad," he grinned after swallowing, "I think you found another talent."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto, who had waited until he'd gotten a reaction from Sulu about the drink, let himself relax enough to take a few swallows of his own. And alright, maybe he drank that bit down a little faster than he normally would have, but really, anything that he could take to make himself stop looking like a fool was worth forgoing the savoring of the flavors.

"I'm glad," Ianto said, "that I don't have to hang up my hat as a successful entertainer, and instead can add 'has good eye for ales' onto my list of attributes, then." He smiled at Sulu over his glass, before taking another couple swallows, the bitterness of the dark ale familiar and not unlike that of coffee, which was perhaps the reason he ordered brews like this in the first place, because he liked to stick to what he was familiar with.

[parked]

Sulu laughed. "When the food gets here, we'll be able to tell if you know how to pick out snacks as well." After all, he'd figured from the name of the dish that it was something like a sampler platter, which was fine by him. Ianto would be lucky with that one, he wagered, since there was bound to be something there to satisfy Sulu's hunger.

"I have to tell you," he started after drinking down more of his ale, fixing Ianto with a completely honest look, "I'm really glad that we got to do this, and I'm really sorry that it took so long."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto dropped his eyes to the table, the look Sulu was giving him so open that he had to look away, or else risk getting stuck staring back at the other man. "It's not your fault that it took as long as it did," Ianto said, moving to play with a droplet of water on the table. "I mean, if UNIT hadn't been here, this would have happened two weeks ago, even, so. I suppose that I should be apologizing to you two, for making you wait that extra bit."

"I... I'm glad that we got to do this too, though," Ianto said, still not being able to look up at Sulu, but at least keeping his voice steady and honest. "I... Honestly, even though we'd set the date, it still sometimes felt like it was never going to happen. It wasn't until you called to make sure that we were still on for tonight that I fully realized that, y'know. It was actually happening." He smiled, ducking his head bashfully. "It's still hard to believe, really, even though, well. Here we are, and all."

[parked]

"At the very least, I deserve at least partial responsibility," Sulu said, understanding Ianto's glance away this time and therefore not feeling like he needed to draw his attention back. He instead took a moment to continue working on draining his glass, getting down to half pretty quickly.

"I know what you mean, though," he said with a grin, "I mean, as far as we're concerned - this isn't too different from other times we've hung out. It's just that this time..." Was different. He wanted to kiss Ianto, or touch him, or something. He wanted to throw compliments at him so his face would be perpetually red.

It was hard to think that this all happened because of some leather jacket - and really, it wasn't only the jacket. He'd tried his hand at flirting with Ianto the first time they'd met face to face, after all - not too much, since he'd known at least peripherally about Jack - and then after Ianto had said that his relationship with Jack was not the end-all, be-all... Well. That had definitely opened some previously closed doors. Not that he'd noticed them - not until they'd headed out into Cardiff and Sulu had made the mistake of finding those gorgeous jeans for Ianto and a jacket for himself.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, understanding where Sulu was going there. He took a few more gulps of his drink, easily catching up to where Sulu was in his glass as well. "It's just that this time it's an actual date, and we both know it is," Ianto said, finishing Sulu's sentence. It was a date, and that meant that there were boundaries that they had had up before that now it... Now it would be okay to push them. And that thought was both frightening and invigorating, really. He took a few more big swallows of his drink, before continuing.

"I guess..." Ianto continued. "I guess that the fact that it actually has a title, and it isn't just another time that we're hanging out, that's the reason why it's so nerve-wracking. I mean. The pair of us," he said, smiling down at the table. "We both were on about how we wanted to do things right. Now that we're actually doing it, it's... It's a bit intimidating really. I mean. There's a lot that we could screw up, here, yeah?" Okay, so. Maybe the alcohol was doing its job to help him loosen up a bit.

[parked]

"A lot we could screw up?" Sulu laughed, shaking his head, "I think you mean a lot I could screw up. You might stumble over your words, but at least you never have to eat them." He smiled wryly at his drink and then shrugged, throwing back the rest like someone who knew exactly how to drink, so long as you didn't want to taste anything.

"Seriously, though, we shouldn't be letting it bother us. I mean, so what if it's a date?" He grinned at Ianto now, "We both want this to work, right? Logically, then, we're already doing everything we can to make it work. So worrying is just kind of counter productive." He paused, then made a face and added, "Not that me mentally repeating that all the time has stopped me, but still."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow as Sulu tossed back his drink, but he didn't comment on it. He understood that at the moment, having the social lubrication of the alcohol was a lot more important than savoring the subtleties of the brew of ale. If Sulu were to toss back another of his drinks just as fast, though, then Ianto might speak up, if only to save the other from, well. Exactly what he'd said he would, when Sulu mentioned he was easily affected by alcohol. "Well, that's just because I've never made a verbal misstep, yet. It's not like I'm incapable of doing them. I mean, I say the wrong thing to Jack all the time. I just, well. Either it's harder to do that to you, or I've just gotten lucky, really."

"But no," he said in response to Sulu's statement, "we shouldn't be letting it get to us." He smiled, taking another couple of swallows of his drink. "But we are. It's... It's alright though. It's just going to take a little practice, you know? To get it so that, y'know, dates like this are 'like old hat' to us, as they say. That, and," he downed the rest of his glass as well, "perhaps another round of ales, yeah? That is, for this date, at least."

[parked]

It really was just harder to make a mistake with Sulu, when it came to most conversation. He was remarkably casual about most things, to the point where people sometimes had trouble accepting the fact that he was all right with whatever was happening, and that translated to his personal and romantic life. He wasn't going to say that aloud, though; it sounded a lot like boasting in Sulu's mind, and he really didn't want to be that kind of person.

"Another round sounds great," he said with a smile, "I promise, I'm not planning on getting drunk on you, either, so you don't have to worry about that." He shook his head, "And - it'll take some practice, I guess, yeah. I just hate it when I can't get the hang of things right away." He laughed, "That's why I hate 3D chess."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"3D chess?" Ianto asked. "I mean. Maybe this is my era talking, but. There's still 'chess' in the title. How is it any different from, y'know, chess on a board, then? Or do you hate regular chess as well then, too?" he asked, with a grin.

At that moment, the waiter came by with their starter platter. Ianto thanked the waiter for it, asking for refills of both of their ales, taking a guess in that Sulu wanted another pint of the same as he had earlier--he certainly hadn't said anything otherwise, and Ianto was starting to discover that he really was easy to please on these things. "Well, in the meantime, here's our food. I think you should be able to tell what everything is, but just in case, there's buffalo chicken wings, spicy prawns, chicken nuggets, and chips," Ianto said, indicating each food as he mentioned it. And it was quite a pile of food at that.

"I, ehm. I thought we might start you out easy first, so. No Welsh traditional food like steak and kidney pie or laverbread just quite yet, although the second you might actually enjoy. I certainly like it. So," he motioned to the food, "eat what you like. If we need more, than we can always order it, yeah?" Ianto took an onion ring off of the platter and put it on a smaller, separate plate to cool. "So. You were going to tell me about 3D chess? I've heard word that you hate it..." he said, joking, urging the conversation on.