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 let out a breath, not quite a laugh, but close enough to count as something of the sort. He realized that he was pretty much leaning across Sulu, trapping him against the side of the sofa, and yet. He really didn't feel like moving whatsoever, not yet. "I guess it would be, wouldn't it?" he asked, amused. "Things would get pretty old pretty fast like that, I'd imagine," he said.

He shifted, making himself more comfortable and turning himself sideways a little bit as he leaned against Sulu. "I'm pretty comfortable with this," he said, in response to Sulu's statement about the pace that they were setting. "I mean. I like this sort of thing. If you do, that is. Just, y'know. Being together. I mean. The other stuff is nice too, but. This is safe and nice." He smiled, knowing that Sulu couldn't see it, but would probably be able to hear it in his voice. "I feel like I won't be able to get myself into as much trouble like this, really."

[parked]

Sulu moved his arms obligingly for Ianto's shifting, though he was unable to stop running his fingers through the other's hair. It was nice, after all, and he really liked how it felt. He really liked how all of this felt - it wasn't a let down to go from making out to this, since Sulu hadn't been expecting anything anyway, and he really did like just lying there with Ianto.

"I like it too," he said easily, "Don't worry. I like this just as much as anything. I'm with you, after all." He really thought he should stop with the cheesy lines, but he couldn't help himself; they were true, after all. "But," he said, "This isn't necessarily safe." With his grin evident in his tone, he said, "I could push you off the couch, and I'm sure that would hurt at least a bit." Not that he would.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Yeah," Ianto said, blushing at how honest Sulu's words were, when he said them. "That's good, then. Because well. I'd rather like to be able to do this more often. Since the pair of us both like it, and all. I mean. You're really quite comfortable to lie around with, really. Certainly better than if I were just lying on the couch by myself, and all. Got my own personal heat source, like this," he mused. Which was also nice. Ianto tended to run cold, and it was nice to have someone else there to share body heat with.

Ianto turned his head to look up at Sulu as much as he could from the position he wasn't going to move himself from anytime soon, raising an eyebrow and smirking at the other man. "You wouldn't dare," he said, moving a hand to poke Sulu in the ribs. "I'd just take you with me. Use you for a landing cushion, or something," he joked.

[parked]

"Whenever you want a personal heat source," Sulu laughed a bit, "You know who to call." And if Ianto asked him to come down just to lay around like this, Sulu would come running at the first possible moment. It was surprising that he was willing to do that, really; usually, he wanted to keep his distance, give himself some personal time (or a lot of personal time, as it went on), but right off the bat, Sulu wanted to spend as much time with Ianto as possible.

"And you're right," Sulu sighed, putting an edge of melodrama into it, "I wouldn't. I broke your nose, once, I don't want to risk breaking anything else. Though," he paused, "I'm a better nurse now than I was at fourteen, I think."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto laughed back at him. "Are you sure about that? Because really. I might possibly take you up on that, sometimes. Ask you to come over and then stick my cold hands down your shirt to warm them up, or something," he said, moving the hand that had poked Sulu in the ribs to lie flat on his chest instead. God, but suddenly Ianto really wanted it to be winter, so that it would be cold enough for there to be an acceptable reason for the two of them to curl up under a blanket together all day.

Ianto snorted at the nurse comment that Sulu added on to that statement. "Well, that's good to know at least. That the next time I end up with a broken bone or concussed around you, we're not going to mess about wondering what to do about it, or anything like that." He smirked. "Though I will ask you to please keep my nose out of it. And my head in general. I've already had enough head injuries to last me quite a while before meriting another one, thanks."

[parked]

"One hundred percent sure," Sulu nodded, moving his arm from Ianto's back so that he could cover the hand resting on his chest with his own. He had no problem with the cold, not really; it came from growing up by the ocean. Sure, he wasn't about to go brave the Siberian tundra with Pavel or anything, but Ianto's hands? That'd be easy.

"I never want to hurt you," Sulu said seriously, before adding with a bit more humor, "Especially not your face. It's too attractive for that." As it was, he thought Ianto was a bit lucky that the broken nose he'd received hadn't stayed with him after the virus, but that was neither here nor there. He wasn't about to bring it up, that was for sure. "Maybe you should invest in a helmet," he added with a little laugh.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"I'd like that, then," Ianto said, looking at their two hands on top of each other on Sulu's chest. "It's going to start getting cold here, soon, after all. I mean. Not too terribly cold, but. Cold and rainy, which isn't always the best of combinations. And while Ianto himself had also grown up with the coastal breezes blowing the cold air around where he lived, he'd always had horrible circulation, so. His skin, and especially his hands and feet, were all going to be pretty cool to the touch, once the Welsh winter finally rolled itself around.

"You can invite me up to sleep with you in your cabin sometimes too, y'know," Ianto said, moving his head to look at Sulu. "I mean, sure your bed is sort of small for the two of us, but. We managed the last time. It's...cozy." He shrugged. "Y'know. So it isn't just me asking you over all the time, and all."

Ianto pulled a face that clearly showed exactly what he thought of wearing a helmet around all the time. "And look like an absolute twat? No thank you," he said. "I'd rather be concussed than laughed at." His expression softened, and he spoke on a more serious note this time. "I... I know I've said this before, but. Really though. I don't think any less of you for what you did as a kid during that virus. We were both pretty out of line, after all."

[parked]

"Yeah," Sulu said with a small shrug, sounding embarrassed, "But I was moreso. I mean... I was raised to not strike out in anger, and I still did. I never was able to hold myself back when I got worked up, though. And I called you caveman," he added with a grin, "That was really rude."

He liked the idea of the two of them sharing his bed again; it had been nice, comfortable - cozy, yes. He wanted to take Ianto up there whenever possible, just so he'd have the excuse to get so close to him whenever he wanted. After all, it was the only real place for them to sit in his cabin... "I'd gladly have you up on the ship, whenever you want to come up. Whatever you want, Ianto." And he meant it, too.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shrugged back at Sulu, although he did notice the embarrassed tone to the other man's voice, so he tucked his head in a little closer to the other man. "Maybe it was. But I was asking for it. I wanted there to be something wrong that I could actually deal with myself, and well." He paused, playing with the fabric of Sulu's shirt. "I guess I got that, in the end, yeah? Neither of us is really any more innocent than the other, all things considered."

He sighed at Sulu's words, the sigh one part happy, and one part well...not upset, but. "I really don't want to be bothering you, you know. I mean. Would it really be alright if I just showed up out of the blue and wanted to sit with you? I mean. What if you're busy or something? I wouldn't want to be in the way, or anything of the sort."

[parked]

"Well," Sulu said slowly, "I guess we'll just have to settle on the fact that we were both asses as teenagers, and move on." He wondered suddenly what his younger self would have to say about how he and Ianto were getting on as adults, and he laughed a bit at the idea. Scandal and surprise, probably.

At Ianto's comment about bothering him, Sulu shifted, bringing a hand to Ianto's chin so that he could angle their eyes to meet. "Ianto," he said, "You're not going to be bothering me. If I'm busy, I'll tell you. I'm not going to necessarily abandon everything to come down here or have you come up to me, but I'm not going to be bothered when you're there, or I'm here." He moved his hand back to Ianto's hair, smiling, "Just call me before hand and ask. I promise, if there's nothing going on that needs my immediate attention, I will gladly spend all my time with you."

He really, really needed to stop making these promises, because the way his relationships went, he usually ended up breaking them; but with Ianto, he wanted to do everything to keep them, and he couldn't see how that'd change.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto looked up at Sulu from where he lay across him, looking into his eyes, searching, and he knew in that moment that Sulu was telling the truth. He blushed and tucked his head back against Sulu's shoulder as Sulu's hand moved back to his hair, but he'd seen the honesty there, and there was no taking that back. He couldn't honestly understand why Sulu would feel that way about him, but he did understand the feeling, considering he felt the same way back towards the other man.

"Yeah," Ianto said, "alright. I...I'd like that. I'd like that a lot, really. Which...well, it makes me feel kind of silly, honestly. That I could enjoy something this simple so much, but." Ianto shrugged. "It's calming. I know we've only been on one date but. It makes me feel--" He cut himself off, blushing.

[parked]

Sulu didn't know how to respond to Ianto's cut off statement, eyes looking up to the ceiling as he tried to gather himself up. He had been more honest, more open, more ridiculously sappy tonight than he'd ever been before - sure, he could be charming and honest when he wanted to be, but the truth was that none of the people he'd dated really made him feel comfortable enough to be quite like this.

"I'd like it too," he said finally, hand stilling in Ianto's hair as he wondered over how this guy lying with him was making him like this. He cast his eyes downward, shifting to try and look at Ianto, or at least give the indication that he was trying, "-Makes you feel...?" he asked, prodding a bit.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Damn it. Ianto had known that Sulu was probably going to make him finish his statement as soon as it had slipped out of his mouth. He noticed Sulu shifting to look at him, and honestly he couldn't decide whether he'd rather be hiding his face, or looking Sulu straight in the eye as he finished his thought. Because that was what he was going to have to do. Finish what it was that he'd started to say. And in all honesty... He was almost curious as to how Sulu'd respond to it. Almost being the key word. Mostly he just felt stupid that he'd let it slip out in the first place.

"Makes me feel..." He took a deep breath, not ducking his head, but not chancing to look at Sulu either, because in all seriousness, he wasn't sure whether he could finish his thought if he was looking directly at the other man. "It makes me feel good to be with you. More... I don't know. Safe isn't exactly it. Content doesn't begin to cover it. But. Like... Like things are better, when you're around. If that makes sense. I mean, it's kind of like that with Jack too, but. It's... It's different." He blushed, shutting himself up. He believed he'd gone on quite enough already, as it were. "God, I. That sounds so stupid, aloud. Nevermind. Forget... Forget I even said anything."

[parked]

Sulu didn't really know what to expect when Ianto took that breath, sounding as though he were about to say something that was too heavy, too serious for the night - or for now, in general - but what he did say made a heaviness he hadn't noticed lift a bit.

"Ianto," he said, before deciding that while Ianto might've not wanted to look him in the eye, Sulu was much more fond of eye contact. With a few quick shifts, holding on to Ianto to keep him from falling off the couch, Sulu found himself lying mostly on top of the other, face to face. "Ianto," he said again, smiling and running a hand through his hair, "That's sort of what my goal with you is, you know. That's probably Jack's goal too. You're hard man to not want to make happy."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto made no move to stop Sulu from shifting them the way that he had, both because he really didn't want to be falling off of the couch, and also because he really rather liked Sulu on top of him. From this position, though, it was impossible for him to hide his face or to not look at the other man, though. Nothing short of shutting his eyes, at any rate. He leaned his head into Sulu's hand running through his hair, really enjoying the feeling of it.

He blushed at Sulu's words, though. Logically, he knew that Sulu would want to make him happy. Why shouldn't he? They were dating and all, and Sulu was a nice guy. He certainly would want Ianto to be enjoying his time. The fact of the matter was, however, that Ianto really was enjoying himself, far beyond the simple 'pleasant night out together' type of thing. "Well," Ianto said softly, reaching a hand out to lay it on Sulu's bicep, "whatever it is that your plan is to achieve this, it... It seems to be working. Because, I am. Happy, that is. Really."

[parked]

"Good," Sulu responded with a coy grin, "I always aim to please." There was something so nice - comfortable, really, about having Ianto under him like this, with nothing planned except going on in an incredibly sentimental way. Ianto's words throughout the conversation had put Sulu in a strange position; on the one hand, he felt more than content and pleased with how things were going, and on the other, he felt more determined and maybe even a little obligated to do everything he could for the other man, to make sure he was happy (and safe, though Sulu knew he'd mostly have to rely on Jack for that).

Leaning down, Sulu gave Ianto a light kiss, smiling at him. "Just remember to hit me when I screw up, all right? I'm impressed I've gotten this far without my foot in my mouth."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto quirked a smile back up at Sulu, amused by his words. "You know, you keep saying that you're impressed about how good you're doing, that you should have screwed something up by now, and well. I mean, maybe it's just a coincidence and I've gotten lucky with you, but. I really can't remember you actually doing something that might be counted as 'screwing up', as it is. I mean, maybe once, but. I mean, you got around that pretty quickly. I just... I think you have lower expectations of yourself in this than you really should."

He stroked Sulu's arm under his hand, absently running his fingers against the fabric of the blazer, enjoying the warm weight of Sulu's body on top of his. "That being said, yeah. I... If you do do something to screw things up, I will point it out to you. I expect you to do the same thing for me too, though, yeah? Who's to say that I won't pull something that neither of us even saw coming?"

[parked]

Maybe it was low expectations; maybe Ianto was right. But Sulu had never gone a relationship without making an ass out of himself - there were, after all, reasons why each of his dates ended up breaking up with him, and not the other way around.

Still, he couldn't help but think that things might very well be different with Ianto. He didn't feel like he was going to cause problems or do something stupid to make Ianto upset or annoyed with him. That in itself was a little scary - he'd never felt like this around anyone.

"I promise," he said, "Though I seriously doubt you're going to do anything wrong. I - I'm not even sure I can screw this up. After all, I like you enough to not mess up yet... Much, at least."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled up at Sulu at his words, that he wasn't sure that even he could screw up what it was that they had, a warm, slow-blooming smile that spread another blush across his face in the process, but he didn't mind so much about the blush this time around. Ianto's hand on Sulu's arm went to the side of his face, cupping his cheek and pulling him down to meet Ianto in another brief, sweet kiss.

"I'm glad," he said, although whether it was to the idea that Sulu thought that their relationship was such that couldn't be screwed up by one person just making the wrong move or saying something out of place, or whether it was the idea that Sulu liked him enough to believe that that would be the case, he wasn't quite sure.

[parked]

Sulu couldn't help but laugh a little into the kiss, completely enamored by the way Ianto was looking at him. "I'm glad too," he said. Sure, he wasn't positive that this relationship was going to always be this smooth sailing, but he figured that as long as he ended up like this with the other, it wouldn't matter.

He paused, thinking over a question in his head that he probably didn't need to ask, but... "Is this all right, though?" he asked finally. "It's not too weird for you, is it?" After all, that had been one of Ianto's main issues when they'd started realizing that they could be more than friends, and it felt like a good enough time to ask as any.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Sulu, looking questioningly up at him. "'This'?" he asked, not sure what Sulu meant by his question. "Do you mean, like, this?" he said, motioning to the way that they were lying together. "Or do you mean..." he gestured a lot more vaguely, as if to imply the situation as a whole instead, "this..." He could see why Sulu might be asking about the situation as a whole, though, so. He chose to answer that one.

"I... It's not too weird for me. I mean. It's a little odd, if I stop to think about how I never would have seen this coming before it did, but. I mean. It's not bad. I... I enjoy this. I..." He paused. "I don't really understand it. And I don't really know how to handle it, sometimes, but. I. I don't want it to go away anytime soon, that having been said. I." He sighed. "It's new to me. And kind of frightening that, well. That I care so much about where it's headed already. And that there's Jack, and...I don't want to be leaving either of you out. But. It's not too weird. I'll. I'll figure it out."

[parked]

Sulu couldn't help but find Ianto's gestures extremely charming, smiling and nodding along to the last option on his list. He wasn't so worried about their current position; if Ianto was uncomfortable, Sulu imagined that he would have said something by now.

"I don't think you'll have to worry too much about Jack," Sulu admitted with a small smile; after all, he'd asked permission, so there was no real issue there. "And you won't be leaving either of us out. I imagine you're probably one of the best people for this kind of relationship; after all, you can multitask better than others." He paused, then kissed the corner of Ianto's mouth. "Can't do much about the fear, or the lack of understanding, though. I'm not much better right now myself."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiles softly as Sulu kissed him. "Well, that is true. I am pretty good at multitasking. I'm lucky that you're not as big of an ego as Jack is, though. I'm not sure how well I could've handled the pair of you being divas, after all."

He ran his hand to the back of Sulu's head, running his fingers through Sulu's hair, stroking the back of his neck slightly. "Like I said before. If you really are afraid or not understanding anything about this, you're definitely better at hiding it than me. I would never have known, if you didn't just say so, after all." He ran his hand through Sulu's hair some more. "I suppose that we're just going to have to figure it out together then, yeah? You and me. I mean. Jack seems to already know what he's doing, and all, the lucky bastard," Ianto said, with a smile up at Sulu.

[parked]

"Trust me, egotism is strictly a captain's thing, and I'm just a lieutenant," he laughed, eyes half lidded as he leaned into Ianto's hand in his hair. "And it's not... I'm not afraid of this, really, because I know it'll work, but. It's not like I'm used to dating people who are seeing someone else. I'm not opposed to it, but I just never had to deal with it."

He laughed a little, "Yeah, Jack seems to be ahead of the curve. Then again, he's probably used to that." He almost told Ianto about how surprised Jack had been at Sulu when he'd asked if it would be okay to date Ianto, but he decided to hold off on that. It was probably not Sulu's shining moment, and he had no idea how Ianto would react to it.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Well, I'm glad for that, then," Ianto said, continuing to run his hand through Sulu's hair and chuckling along with him. "One captain is enough for me, thanks. And about the rest of it..." Ianto took a breath. "I... I can't promise that I'll make the right decisions all the time, because well. This is new to me too. I don't really know how to handle it. And like. I worry that you might think that because Jack came first, and because Jack's more demanding, that I like him better or something like that, but." Ianto sighed. "It's hard to explain. You're different, you and Jack. And I...the way I feel about both of you is different too. Not... Not stronger for one or the other. Just. Just different."

Ianto rolled his eyes at Sulu's comment about Jack. "He probably is. And has been for a long time. Sometimes I wonder if he was ahead of the curve even before, when he was in his own time, but. I don't know if I really want to know, other times. I mean. The only other person I've met from that time period is John, and well." Ianto suppressed a shudder. "He... He isn't the best example of humanity, really."