[ FINISHED / CLOSED ]

[impavid]

Who: John Sheppard (impavid) & Ianto Jones (torchwoodteaboy), & intro-log people
What: A collection of ROOMMATES chatter & INTRO LOG OVERFLOWS
When: Through April, after the intro log & during intro log overflows
Where: Olympia Starter Housing, various
Warning(s): N/A at the offset

The room is small, and the privacy is a little lacking, but John's travelled in enough rural and underdeveloped places that he's just glad of having walls and a bathroom. He scans the space vaguely, trying to weigh up if there's any difference between the beds before stepping through to nose into the other rooms. One bathroom, one kitchen, one central space and two nooks with beds. It's definitely not the worst space he's been in.

Ducking under a beam he begins to undo his tactical vest, shrugs it off and unzips the waterproof jacket underneath to reveal a plain black t-shirt.

"So. It's not exactly homey, yet, but it's dry and has running water by the looks of it. I think I'd call that a win." John himself doesn't need much more than that. "If you have a preference pick a bed now."

They look the same to John. He supposes the choice is really how close you want to be to the front door.

Comments

ELIZABETH OF YORK;

[impavid]

[ Started here. ]

What else is there? Well, John hesitates -- takes a sip of his drink to buy himself time to formulate a list.

"Well, I thought I'd see what the housing is like. Maybe what kind of shops they have. It doesn't look like we get paid just to turn up, so I think I might need to find a job too. I read that there's a theatre, too, maybe some music."

Just generally scope out the culture, see if he can get a handle on the right way to go about blending in.

DUTCH;

[impavid]

[ Started here. ]

You think it's all done out of the goodness of their hearts?

[ This dripping cynicism says John isn't fully convinced of that right now. ]

They want our help to influence things. It may not be all monetary profit, but they're gaining something here.

TONY STARK;

[impavid]

[ Started here. ]

[ Wow.

Listen.

You're not wrong but still, you're wrong. John is too competitive to admit he's under-equipped for anything. ]

Well I might disagree if I'd actually been allowed to keep my gun, but apparently I have to be nice first. Still, not a problem. Somewhere in one of these cities they're bound to have weapons. Then I can use my superpower of shooting people who try to kill me, which has kept me alive so far thank you very much.

[ So yes, under-equipped now but working on it! He pulls out what looks like a rugged PDA and glances around the area again with a slightly annoyed squint. It lights up in his hands and he begins making a weak attempt to see if it's calibrated for something to do.

Doing something with his hands is better than having to continue admitting he is not armed and ready to deal with a problem. That's terrible. Let's move on from that. ]

[hidden_and_patient]

She hadn't thought much of the cove, but everything else he suggested appealed to her. She would need a new gown and see the state of her lodgings. It wasn't until the mention of music that she felt excited. There was more to this place than she first considered, her mind shut off by the reminder of what happened to their world.

"You will have a great deal to explore." And she imagined that Olympia was as large as London. "The marketplace would be good to visit. You can learn more about a city from the average citizens than from those they are going to have meet us."

They would at least tell the truth. "It would be nice to have new clothes."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto supposes that it could be worse as well. The bathroom could have no door. Hell, there could be no bathroom, for that matter. There could be just a bucket in the corner of the room and perhaps a set of bars on one side of the walls and then he'd be right back in that basement with the refrigerator full of body parts. He crosses the room nervously just to check, but refreshingly it's only stocked with the most basic of necessities. Closing it and turning back to John to make sure they're still where they were a moment ago, he lets out a shaky breath. Glancing between the options...

It takes him a moment to make anything of a choice, but the bed further from the door has a window closer to it and he doesn't even care if it means he'll be rained on at this point, so long as he'll have fresh air. He gestures to it tiredly before tossing his pack down on it and wincing as it causes a layer of dust to rise from the bedding.

"Well, it's. Better than camping, I suppose," he says, assessing the place aloud.

[impavid]

"Much better, you have a real bathroom with running water. This is luxury."

He throws his tactical vest down onto the bed Ianto has passed over, then sits down on the edge of it with a sigh. He's going to need a new book, or at least some magazines. Something to read to pass the time. Digging in his pocket he tugs out the phone that he was given, frowns at it as he thumbs through the functions.

"It has been a very long time since I've had one of these working. There's not a lot of signal in the pegasus galaxy."

[motivation]

Do I look like I believe that kind of bullshit?

( please, john, you're insulting her. of course she doesn't think it's done out of the goodness of their hearts. but profiting in some way isn't the same thing as profiting from a war down here. )

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raises his eyebrows at the 'very long'. You're not that old, John, just how long have you been working for these people?

"Well, they seem to work just fine on this alien planet," he murmurs himself, as he moves to pull his own mobile from his front coat pocket. Moving to unbutton it and toss it on the bed beside his bag before taking a seat himself. Tabbing to his contacts before powering off the screen.

"Is that where Atlantis is, then?" he asks quietly. Hanging his hands between his knees, not quite looking at the other man as he does. If he's staying with this man, he might as well try to get to know him more. He's already been in his past, after all.

[impavid]

"Presumably on a different network system though. I'm hoping they don't use Sprint out here."

He thumbs through a few options and frowns a moment, then Ianto's phone lights up and so does Sheppard's expression. He has successfully social media stalked his new roommate, on the first day!

"Ianto Jones, looks like you're the only one here."

The only Ianto, that is. This gives him access to John's profile now too, but he isn't too worried about that. He cancels the call and sets the phone aside casually.

"And yes, Atlantis is. The pegasus galaxy, the local cluster, three million light-years from the nearest In-N-Out."

[impavid]

"It would. They had spares on the --"

John gestures, vaguely, upwards to Thesa Station.

"-- or at least they did when I asked, but for anything here you'll probably have to pay. Or trade. They might be the trading types."

Which would be fine, if John had anything much to trade with, but right now he doesn't.

"But, if you get a job you can buy anything you want. Within reason. What's your resume like?"

He's assuming, at a glance, that it's mostly professionally rich but he's been wrong about this before.

[impavid]

Well I didn't think so, but I've misjudged before. What's your take then?

[ Since you've got opinions on what it isn't all about, presumably you have some ideas of what it is. Or at least a few guesses. ]

CAIN;

[impavid]

[ Started here. ]

Actually I'm used to a lot of walking, it's better than being shot down. But, if we're offering flying horses that is... pretty cool. Though I'm still hoping someone can get me in on the mobile suit training.

[ Even despite the whole technical difficulties thing he's been warned of, it all sounds pretty cool. Maybe by the time he's been trained it will all be fixed... right? ]

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Shocking." Ianto would be pretty surprised if there were any others, all things considered. He glances down at his phone as John's alert pops up on it, taking a moment to add him to his contacts -- there are a lot more Johns in the world if he wants to find him later, he suspects -- before lowering his phone as well.

"Is this what's fed your obsession with take-away?" Ianto replies, playing the mobile between his hands as he studies the other man for a moment. "They obviously fed you something while you were away." It's not a negative observation -- in truth, it's obvious to Ianto that John's really quite fit, especially now that he's stripped down to only his tshirt. He quickly keeps his mind from going down that train of thought by glancing away and around the little set of rooms again to clear his mind before settling back on John once more.

"Three million light-years..." he echoes. "That's pretty far out there."

[impavid]

They obviously fed you something, Ianto says, and John shoots him a frown at that because it sounds like a comment on his weight.

"We trade for food," he says, somewhat defensively. "And get shipments of sealed things every so often. I'm not obsessed!"

He just... misses things. You would too if you'd been away for years.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto holds his hands up in front of him in a placatory gesture. He hadn't meant it to sound like that, but he can understand why it might.

"But it's not the same," he hazards. "I get it. Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." He raises a hand to run it through his hair. "Look, it's just been a long few days. For both of us, yeah? And I don't mean to pry, but I'd rather hear about your pegasus galaxy and tinned food than..." Let himself think about the rest of it. John was there, he hopes he'll understand at least something of where he's coming from.

Letting out a breath, Ianto pushes himself to his feet again and moves back into the little kitchen across the room. "Do you suppose they'll have coffee in this place?" he wonders aloud.

[impavid]

"I have no idea. It seems unlikely but they may have something surprisingly similar."

He leans forward with a sigh and begins to undo his laces, yanking his boots off one by one with a wince.

"But, I do have something on me that might help."

Tugging off his second boot he swings his feet up onto the bed and tugs his tactical vest into his lap, begins to rummage in a pocket before producing a rectangular foil packet.

[torchwoodteaboy]

He goes through all the cabinets in the kitchen but he can't find anything there that would match what he's looking for. He's going to hope that there might be some out in the town that he can acquire somehow, some way. He can't imagine the rest of his life without something resembling coffee, even if it's not quite the same experience as he remembers.

Ianto turns back to regard the other man as he digs through his vest and produces something in foil. He can't quite make out what it is but he raises his eyebrows inquisitively at John nonetheless.

"Is that...?"

[impavid]

"Well you're probably not interested," he points out blandly. "I mean I know I'm obsessed with food, but I'm sure you have better things to do."

Carefully working open the chocolate bar John begins to break it up into pieces and gives Ianto a helpless shrug.

"What do I know, right?"

He's just some guy obsessed with takeaway.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto pushes himself to his feet, crossing to the other man to be certain it is what it seems. Definitely a chocolate bar, and John is definitely taking the piss now. He raises an eyebrow at the other man's words -- honestly, he hadn't meant for it to sound like that, and he even had apologized for it too.

"All right," he says. "Do you mean to just rub that in my face or are you offering to share? Do you want me to apologize again? ...cook? The kitchen doesn't have a lot but it is stocked, as best it can be."

Is the key to your friendship through your stomach, John? He's willing to bribe you if he has to, for the sake of chocolate. Especially if he might never get to have any again.

[impavid]

On the one hand, John had been planning to give it to him for free. On the other... He does like the sound of this.

"Well if you're going to insist on cooking, who am I to turn down a good deal?"

Please, be a good housewife. He holds out the chocolate bar, letting Ianto take a piece or two as he pleases. So far he's mostly holding together, but John feels like he's just watching for the cracks now. The little lines that any minute will split through Ianto's hold on himself and have his walls collapsing in a wave of emotion.

"You gonna be alright?"

It feels like a weak question, one that he knows is pointless. Ianto isn't going to be alright, neither of them are. The only reason he's making a cowardly attempt at asking is guilt, and Ianto will either admit he's not and then nothing will happen or lie. There's nothing that can be fixed here. It is what it is.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Insist, John says, and Ianto resists the urge to roll his eyes at the other man. At least he's offering him the chocolate. He reaches out to take a few pieces from the other man, biting into the squares and savoring the flavor of it. He's just turning back to the kitchen and questioning what he might be able to piece together when the other man asks after him.

He knows that it's something that a person is supposed to do, that John is only being polite, but it hurts to be asked, to be reminded, and he's glad that he's not facing the other man because he's not certain how best he can school his expression in the moment no matter how he tries. He crosses to the kitchenette again, bending to fuss with what food there might be in the cabinets before he pulls himself together enough to respond.

"Once upon a time, I thought I might marry her," he says. "We met at work, you know. Torchwood Tower in London. But there were complications, and the cybermen attacked..." He pushes himself to his feet and move to the little refrigerator, not looking at John as he continues to elaborate, "Only twenty-seven of us made it through that day. I'm not sure how many there are left now. Were, I suppose. Before..." This.

[arcreact]

[ While Tony is inclined to agree with just about everything that was just said, he gets sidetracked by squinting incredulously as the little device Sheppard pulls out. ]

Yikes. You planning to play pong on that? [ Tony points at the thing he's holding, successfully distracted from waxing poetic about how fucked they are. Well done. ] What's it for?

[impavid]

Yeah. This is about how he thought it would go. John drops his eyes away to the ground, turning over the information in his head. Torchwood Tower. London. An attack.

He wants to say something helpful, something reassuring, but it all dies in this throat.

"Some of them might be up there in stasis," he says finally, "maybe not everyone -- I don't know if there's space for everyone -- but from the sounds of we do similar things. Whatever the complications, you were fighting to protect people... and, if it's one person or ten people it doesn't matter. It's the right thing to do, and all of you knew that. If even one person was saved because of your actions, that's worth something, and I'm guessing there was more than one."

John pauses, lets out a slow breath.

"Now, I'd offer you a drink but I doubt this place comes pre-stocked with beer."

[impavid]

I always carry pong in case of emergencies.

[ He wishes he could, it would make long trips better. Still -- ]

It's a scanner, or it was. The storm is messing with it. I was hoping to get it working so I at least get 10 seconds warning before something tries to sneak up and kill me.

[ Old cynicism dies hard. ]

[hidden_and_patient]

He's using words that she's not familiar with, but she tries not to let her confusion show. For a moment, she only stares at the fire as she attempts to make sense of his questions. Resume and job? As much as she hates to admit that she's a bit lost, she can only shake her head at him.

"I don't understand."

Which should be indication enough that she comes from a time long before she would need to consider those things. "You're talking about earning coin?"