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

[parked]

"I'll call, I promise, I promise." Sulu laughed and, unable to resist, ran both his hands through Ianto's hair as he gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to get back in one piece. I don't want you to lose the optimism - it looks too good on you."

Sulu moved to grab the box that the portkey was in, pausing briefly to blow at the singing plant he'd brought earlier so that it chimed a bit. "And, at the very least, I'll be stopping by sometime to check on this one here," he said, winking at Ianto, "Making sure you're keeping care of it." After all, he was a botanist; he wasn't about to let Ianto get away with killing one of his plants.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto nodded, smiling. "Please do. I... Well, I wouldn't say that I necessarily have a bad track record with plants, but. It could be better. It definitely wouldn't hurt for you to come buy and check up on it, when you can. Now that you have the ability to do so whenever you like, and all," Ianto said, with a smile, nodding to the box in Sulu's hands.

"You... You can do that, you know. Come by whenever you like. Even if it's just to sleep in the same bed together. I... I'd like that, really. I mean. I like having you around, as it is. We don't have to have plans to get together. In fact...we'll probably find impromptu things a lot easier to carry through than actual plans, as it were. Even if it's just an hour two or the night or what have you. That is, only if and when you'd like to," Ianto finished with a blush, realizing he'd been rambling.

[parked]

Sulu allowed himself a chance to imagine that - being able to stop by just to crawl into bed with Ianto and pass out after a long shift (or, more likely, pass out until Ianto came back, as their time schedules seemed a bit different). He knew it wouldn't be that easy. There'd be times he'd want to come down where Ianto was dealing with Torchwood, there'd be times Ianto'd want him down where he was dealing with Starfleet - there'd be times that Jack would be there.

Which, honestly, probably wouldn't be a big deal. Ianto'd probably end up the most frustrated, but, hey.

"They'd be a lot easier, you're right," Sulu said, nodding. "And - I'd like them. I'll make sure to call ahead, though." Didn't want to interrupt anything, after all. "You know - the same stands for you. Any time you want me down, or... well, admittedly, almost any time you want to come up? Let me know, and I'll be there if I can."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto blushed, feeling a little silly that he'd even suggested it, but pleased that he had because of the warmth spreading through him that Sulu had agreed to the offer and turned it back to apply to him as well. "Yeah," he said, trying to keep his voice from sounding as if he was relieved that Sulu'd agreed. "Yeah, I'll... I'll call, and we'll... We'll work it out."

"I know it won't work every time, and well. That there'll probably be some times when I really do want you here, or you'd want me to be there, and it just can't happen, but. I mean, those potential few times this might not work shouldn't stop us from leaving the offer out in the open, yeah?"

He stuck his hands in his pockets, smiling bashfully at Sulu and resisting the urge to shuffle his feet. He felt awkward in that moment, but. Well, it was a good kind of awkward. An awkward brought on by excitement of things to come. "Well... There's that. I... I still think that tonight it's probably better if we. Y'know. Didn't. But in the future. Really, I'm looking forward to it."

[parked]

"Exactly," Sulu said with a smile. He picked up the box with the portkey in it and moved back to Ianto, reaching to pull one of his hands out of his pocket, holding on to it. "And, I know what you mean. We jumped the gun a bit last time, but. It was called for. Regular first dates are supposed to end around this time, before we both decide we'd rather say 'screw it.' Right?" In all honesty, Sulu hadn't been on a "regular" date in a while. And, he was also almost at the point of saying "screw it." He kept that part to himself.

"I'll take off now, before we get ahead of ourselves and give you a call once we're sure this thing works, and then - well, we'll... figure out something later on. Probably shouldn't marathon through a few dates in a week, you know?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto let Sulu take his hand, cocking his head to the side and smiling at him as he did. "Yeah, I suppose that regular dates are supposed to end around this time, like this. We should at least humor the tradition and try it a couple times, before we throw the tradition to the wind and all." No matter how much he'd like to throw the tradition to the wind, they really should try it at least once. Who knows. Maybe the next time they got together, they might not be able to part so easily, with time left to spare, after all.

"Yeah, I know," he said, in response to Sulu's comment about them marathoning dates. "Giving us time in between them won't get us to start expecting more of that every week, after all. I mean. Look how long it took us to set up this first one. Two in one week would be...overwhelming, really," he said, smirking at Sulu. "We'll... We both know that there's going to be another date soon, so. We can leave it at that for now, alright?" He squeezed Sulu's hand. "I'll talk to you on the phone, then, yeah? Briefly, at least."

[parked]

Though Sulu wasn't too much for tradition, this one seemed like a fair enough one to follow. He nodded at Ianto's words, giving him one last kiss for good luck before stepping back a bit, opening the box and taking out the watch. Before he could do so much as look up at Ianto, he was sent spinning, and the next moment he was in his cabin - well. On the floor of his cabin. Wow. All right, then.

Sulu groaned as he pushed himself up, dusting himself off and giving everything a once-over. Everything seemed to be in one piece - including him. And just then, he realized that he now had a direct (if slightly disorienting) line to Ianto's flat, that he could use any time he wanted. Which meant he could see Ianto whenever he wanted, which meant everything they'd said tonight, despite him having believed it at the time, was not at all impossible. They could go on as many dates as they damned well wanted to, Sulu could see Ianto whenever he wanted to, and they... really, really could make this work.

He resisted the temptation to jump back to Ianto's flat, to prove that it worked and that it could go both ways, and instead set the watch in his top desk drawer, taking his communicator out of his pocket and calling up Ianto. His grin was audible in his voice, even to him. "It works perfectly," he said once Ianto responded, "One hell of a trip, though."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief at Sulu's words. Honestly, it'd been more than a little bit jarring to watch. Sulu'd simply picked the watch up out of the box, and suddenly he'd just...winked out of existence. In the couple of seconds between when he'd disappeared and when he'd called, Ianto's mind had run through all sorts of horrible possible scenarios of that portkey thing going wrong, before his phone had rung. Scrambling to get it out of his jacket pocket, he'd been relieved to hear Sulu's voice, and even more relieved to hear the good news.

"I'm glad," Ianto said, resisting the urge to say something like how he was more relieved to know that he hadn't just spliced the other man across space and time than he could even fully express. "What do you mean, though, 'one hell of a trip'? Is it... It isn't too bad, is it?" Great help this watch thing would be, if it got them between the places but was too horrible to use, after all. It would also be just his luck, but that was besides the point.

[parked]

"It's just going to take a little bit to get used to," Sulu said with a laugh, falling into his bed and staring up at his ceiling. "Like... spinning through a turbine, or something. I nearly broke my nose when I got here." Okay, so he was exaggerating a little - but, maybe it was just because he liked being worried over.

He could imagine Ianto's face pretty clearly as he said it, though - either concerned and worried, or just exasperated - so he was quick to add, "Not really, but it's definitely going to take a few tries before I stop being disoriented."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto's eyebrows shot up at Sulu's comment about nearly breaking his nose thanks to the watch, or portkey, or whatever it was. He was halfway to opening his mouth and demanding if he was okay or not, when Sulu amended his statement, instead shutting his mouth and making a worried face.

"Is... Is it alright, though? I mean. Just because it's convenient, doesn't mean that you should force yourself to keep using it, if it really is that disorienting or dangerous or whatever. I mean... I don't want you ending up hurting yourself, just for my sake, or anything silly like that," Ianto said, moving to sit down on the sofa, cradling the phone to his head. "I'm asking you to be honest with me, here. Like, really honest. I will take it back, if I find out that you're lying..."

[parked]

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine, really!" Sulu grinned and felt very much like a teenager at that moment, talking to Ianto in his bed like some kind of school kid after... well, after his first date. He nearly laughed at the idea. "I promise you, Ianto, it works fine. It just disorients you a little at first. I'm positive it'll get better."

And besides, he almost said, he wouldn't care if it had broken his nose. Quick to change the subject, to keep Ianto from worrying too much, Sulu said, "I had a good time with you tonight, and I'm going to use this portkey thing again to make sure I get another good night with you."

[torchwoodteaboy]

"If you're sure..." Ianto said. He'd honestly have to experience it for himself, before he'd be truly convinced, but. For the moment, he was placated, because he knew that Sulu knew he wouldn't appreciate being lied to about something like this, and that he needed a really good reason to be lying about this, if he were.

At Sulu's words, though, Ianto leaned back on the couch, moving to put his feet up as he rested his back against the armrest. "I... I had a good time with you tonight, too," he said. "Though... I hope I'm not getting too ahead of myself here by saying that I'd really prefer it if I got more than just another good night with you. Perhaps several good nights, instead?" he joked. "You know, and then some more after that. And well... I'm sure that you probably get the picture, as it were..." He blushed, which was silly, because Sulu couldn't even see him, but there it was anyway, an automatic response and all.

[parked]

Sulu smiled and shook his head, having imagined Ianto blushing as he spoke and enjoying the idea of them having... well. Plenty more dates in the future. It'd be nice. "Yeah," he said, "I think I got it. And I'm perfectly all right with the idea of there being more than just a few more nights like this." Maybe some time, a night that wouldn't end with him leaving Ianto. Not yet, maybe, but someday.

"I..." Wished he could have stayed - "I'm looking forward to the rest of them. The nights, I mean. Or days - I guess you don't really have to only go out for dinner, huh?" He laughed, running a hand through his hair, "I mean, there are probably other things to do. After all, the 21st century has all sorts of things going on, doesn't it?" Like... movies. Sulu had never actually even been in a movie theater before - not with a projector, not like they were in classic films. That'd be something.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto, centuries behind and god knows how far away from Sulu, was thinking the same thing, wishing that he hadn't felt the need to make Sulu leave. That... That it had really been a lot more comfortable laying on his couch with Sulu there than it was at that moment, without him. And maybe the fact that they were still on the phone together was just rubbing that in, but still.

"Yeah," he said, trying to sound excited about the future dates rather than moping about having to part ways. "It does. I mean. There's lots of things that we can go out to do. Things that are modern now, and y'know. Things that are old, even now. There's a silent films theater in town, for example. Or... There's things that we could do in, too. Like, I don't know. I'm not a bad cook. Dinner, or." What else was there to do? He was so out of practice with this, no thanks to Jack. "I don't know, rentals or television or something," he said, lamely, at least in his opinion.

[parked]

Sulu hadn't even realized films ever came in any mode other than "loud." Well, okay. That was a lie - Sulu knew, academically, from media history, that movies started without any integrated music and had to be accompanied by an orchestra or something, but he never really thought about it. So, admittedly he sounded a little more excited than most people would when he repeated, "Silent movies?" The idea was definitely intriguing.

Then again, so was the idea of staying in - Ianto cooking dinner? God, the mundane stuff really did sound amazing to him. "I'd like that," he said slowly, shifting a bit on his bed, sitting up to take off his jacket and loosen his tie, "The... dinner thing, I mean. And the television - all of it sounds good, honestly." He could only hope he didn't sound boring, or over-accommodating, by saying that.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Yeah," Ianto said, pleased with himself that he'd found something that seemed to excite the other man. "The Electro. It's an old movie theater in town, and every Saturday night they show old films. Old, silent films, that is. My T--" he stopped himself, lying about the place coming like second nature to him. He didn't want to lie to Sulu, though. He didn't lie to Jack, and he wouldn't lie to this man either. It only seemed fair. He expected the two of them to be honest with him as much as they could, as it were. "Torchwood helped them out," he started again, "so they'll probably let us get in for free. If you're interested in that sort of thing, that is."

On the contrary, Ianto didn't think any of that sounded boring at all. It... Well, Jack never did that sort of thing. The domestic scene. Sitting in, watching movies, eating dinner that they cooked together, enjoying each other's company while not really doing anything in particular. He... He missed that. He wanted that. And with Sulu, well. With Sulu, it was possible, and the idea of it sounded amazing. "Really? I'll... I'll keep that sort of thing in mind then, too. I mean. You'd have to excuse my hosting abilities, as it were. It's been a while since I've had anyone but Gwen over for dinner, and all." His blush seemed to be back to stay, as it were, but well. He didn't mind so much. This was a happy blush, after all.

[parked]

Sulu caught the pause, but he decided not to say anything about it. Ianto clearly wanted the conversation to go another direction, and Sulu wasn't about to stop it - he wasn't going to ruin a good night by being pushy. "Yeah, I would be. I mean, I've never actually seen a movie that didn't have sound already embedded in, you know? It doesn't really happen out here. I'd have to pull them from the national archives, and... well." He'd never though to.

He smiled at Ianto's apology, pulling off his vest before responding. "Don't worry about it. I'm really pretty easy to please when it comes to nights in. Worst comes to worst, just distract me with your television, since we don't exactly get the same programming in the 23rd century."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled, leaning back against the armrest. "Alright, well. I'll add that to the list, then," he said, mentally making a note to start checking what sorts of movies the Electro will be playing in the next couple of months, to see if there's anything in particular that Sulu might be interested in seeing, and all. "After all, this'll probably be a lot more enjoyable than pulling something from the national archives. Considering it'll be shown live in a theater, with actual breaks for intermissions and all the wonders of theater refreshments and all."

At Sulu's mention of television programming, Ianto groaned. "Oh god, I really hope that by that time they've phased some of the crap we've got on here out. I'd hate to see some of these horrible reality television shows making it a decade, let alone 200 years into the future..."

[parked]

"Yeah," Sulu said, having also been unaware that old movies required intermissions, "It'll definitely be more fun down in Cardiff, rather than me having seen it in the dorms at the Academy, or in my cabin here and now." Plus, he'd be with Ianto. That was enough to make anything worth it - even a dusty old theater. (Actually, that might actually be a bonus to spending time with Ianto, but Sulu wasn't sure what to expect yet.)

Laughing, Sulu undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt a bit, finally able to relax now that the tie was out of the way. "Reality shows never go completely out of style. I'd like to say they're more mature and sophisticated, but some people love dirt dealings just as much now as they do in your time."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Hm. That's right, doing things on the Enterprise, be it in Sulu's room, or even visiting the cafeterias to see how the food replicators there worked, more things to add to the list. And well, possible planet visiting, but Ianto wasn't going to get his hopes up, in case that never amounted to anything. Jack had promised him the stars as well, as it were, and still so far all they had seen was planet-side, so. Ianto stood, figuring he might as well start getting ready for bed. Early day tomorrow, to make up for the fact that he'd asked for the entire night off today.

"You know," he said, as he climbed the stairs to get to his bedroom, "contrary to what you may believe, watching things in your cabin together might be interesting, too. Even if they are films that are recent here, pulled from the archives in your time. You know, so I don't get spoiled or anything. That could still be a good time, and all." Really, so long as they could spend the time together, Ianto was pretty sure he'd enjoy himself, which was a silly thought, but there it was.

Reaching his bedroom, he shucked off his jacket to hang back up, and took off the necklace he'd had on. "You've probably got a lot more inventive things out there then, though. A lot more to influence your viewing audience, what with actual space travel and aliens and what-have-you. I'd think that whatever you've got would be a lot more entertaining than now, but then again, I guess I'd be biased. Most of the stuff I find fascinating about your time is probably old hat to you, as it is."

[parked]

Sulu hadn't really considered his cabin to be a very good place for a date, honestly. He'd thought that there'd probably be more interesting things for Ianto to see in his time than the inside of his relatively bland living space, but...

"Probably wouldn't spoil you too badly if I showed you something from more my era - I'd have to set up a system in here, but those aren't exactly difficult." After all, it was sort of like a classic DVD player. Sort of. "And you have to realize - most of the stuff you have is fascinating to me. I mean, probably not in the same way, but still. It goes two ways, you know?" He smiled. "I'm entertained by the most mundane things, after all." It was true; cars, televisions and movie theaters were strange and exciting for Sulu - the same way things like alien plants and replicators were fascinating to Ianto.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto balanced his phone between his cheek and his shoulder, careful not to press too hard so that he wasn't accidentally dialing any numbers or anything like that, so that he could start unbuttoning his shirt. "You don't think so?" Ianto asked, jumping at the chance to see something from the future. So long as there wasn't some sort of reference to something he really wasn't supposed to know about, Ianto figured that maybe Sulu was right, and it'd be okay.

Ianto laughed at Sulu's comment about the mundane, as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and shrugged it off, going to put it in the hamper. "Well. We're going to be pretty easy dates for each other to handle, then," he said, "considering the fact that we are so entertained by each other's mundane things. I've half a mind to bring you out grocery shopping with me, someday, just to see if you're lying or not, about this whole being 'entertained by the most mundane things' statement of yours."

[parked]

Sulu couldn't imagine what a popular movie from the last decade or so would touch on that Ianto didn't already know about - the Federation, aliens, Klingons, Starfleet, it was all stuff Sulu had already told him about. Sure, some historical dramas would have to be kept under wraps, but, well. Sulu was getting pretty good at bending the prime directive just shy of breaking point. "Nah, it'll be fine."

Sulu adopted a decidedly overzealous tone, grinning as he said, "Really? You'll take me grocery shopping? Will I get to handle the money?" Then he laughed, adding, "Truth be told, I actually don't go shopping at all, really, groceries or otherwise, so... Taking me to a market would probably entertain you for hours." He paused, then said, "But I refuse to handle any currency. I don't even have a handle on 21st century Earth coinage, and it's pretty simple over there."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto started on the buckle to his belt, undoing it and the fastenings on his jeans before stepping out of them and hanging them on the end of the bed, going to his bureau to find a t-shirt to put on to go to sleep. He wondered about Sulu's money comment, and then wondered how he might be able to stick Sulu in a situation where he would have to use the money, so that he could get the hang of it a little better. For something so small, it seemed a bit silly to get hung up on, but Ianto got the feeling that Sulu didn't like to look bad in front of people.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd shown someone who was out of their time around a grocery store, and well. He had sort of enjoyed it the last time, all of their reactions to everything. "Well... I'd certainly be more entertained than I usually am in a grocer's. It's not every day that I get to see these sorts of things through a different set of eyes, and all that. How different things are here from what they're like where you're from, I really can't tell you, but..." He took the phone away from his face for a second, pulling the shirt on before bringing his phone back to his ear. "Maybe I'd even let you pick something out for yourself, if you behaved," he teased, moving to sit on the edge of his bed.

[parked]

Sulu could practically hear Ianto's mind going, and he wasn't sure if he was going to like what he was contemplating. Still, he had to laugh as Ianto seriously considered taking him to a grocery store, of all things - it'd definitely give Sulu something to be a nerd about.

"Would you really?" Sulu asked, voice equally teasing, "That'd be so sweet of you. There's probably not a lot of ways to change a grocery store, but I have a feeling that it'll manage to be an entertaining experience anyway." He could only imagine how embarrassing he could be in a 21st century market... He was actually surprised to find that he was sort of looking forward to this potential date. He laughed. "How sad is it that I think this would actually make a good date?"