nysalogs | [ FINISHED/CLOSED ]

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[ FINISHED/CLOSED ]

Who: John Sheppard & Ianto Jones
What: I Held My Tongue For Like 30 Minutes What More Do You Want?
When: Backdated to the, 24th/25th of May?
Where: Leaving main Wyver for Khalo
Warning(s): Weird Tension, fyrra use

John's best lead for the whole thing is going to be Khalo, but they can at least meander through the main hub first so Ianto can get a drink before he collapses on the floor. He can explain it once Ianto is a little more alert. John is benevolent enough to suggest this without letting on it's mostly for Ianto's sake, even though they both know it is. It's fine, though, he knows the theoretical timeline they're working on -- and since the the whole altar thing was a bust (probably he should mention that, too) this is more firefighting than anything.

He waves off another kid trying to get suspiciously close to him and his bag, mouths scram as he waits for Ianto to get his drink (which, no doubt, he won't enjoy as much as his own fancy coffee) and skims his phone again. It's heating up enough that his jacket is stowed in his bag, and he eyes Ianto idly wondering if he's put on any sunblock. His own arms are getting browner every minute, and he probably has tan lines.

"So," he says, stowing his phone and squinting up at the sky thoughtfully. Clear so far, it's only going to get hotter then. "Your boyfriend seemed in a good mood."

Ultra smooth. Nailed it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay, well, maybe not going as well as he though...?

"He's not saving himself for marriage, is he? Because I'm not sure that's really worth the commitment."

Having been married, John can confidently say it's a lot of work when you're going back and forth from danger all the time. Way too much for someone you just met on a mysterious planet that higher beings dumped you on.

What even...? He pauses mid-sip of coffee, frowning at the other man over it before lowering his cup and frowning at him some more. He could point out that Jim had invited him to Khalo some time after all this shit blows over, but honestly who knows whether that will happen either, maybe it won't blow over, maybe something will come up, maybe he'll lose interest in Ianto, and moreover why is John asking?

"He's not saving himself for marriage, I'm not saving myself for marriage, we're both two consenting adults and we didn't have sex last night because -- I don't know. Because there's a great fucking undead dragon that may be unleashed on half the population and because I really did have a headache and because it really is to damn hot here to think straight," Ianto replies, more than a little testy because he's still got that headache and the caffeine hasn't set in yet, and also incredulous because he can't really believe that he's being questioned about this. "What is your hangup on this?"

Edited (too excited forgot to choose icon) 2018-06-03 14:25 (UTC)

Okay, admittedly, all fairly good points. The heat isn't bothering John, particularly, but he's used to it anyway and... admittedly used to crisis situations too, but. Pretty good points.

"I don't have a hang up! I'm just invested in your happiness. Besides, if we're all going to die in dragon fire I'd take what I can get if I were you. Never know when it might be your last night in this place."

Not... wildly reassuring but you know. Realistic. He squints at Ianto after a moment, who is still frowning at him, and adds --

"You put sunblock on?"

Because if not, he is definitely going to burn.

Oh, Ianto is most definitely frowning. Especially at the suggestion that he might as well just take what he can get if he's going to die soon anyway. "John--"

The sudden topic change to whether or not he's put on any sunblock throws him for a loop, just as he's busy preparing a response to the idea that his happiness should rely on the amount of sex he's receiving -- and he sputters for a moment.

"I-- what? No. I forgot." He was barely conscious this morning he was lucky enough to be upright this morning never mind remembering to put sunblock on are you kidding? "Look, I've got some in my bag, just let me finish this first." His coffee. He really needs his coffee okay, just let him have this.

"I got some," John responds, and swings his bag off his shoulder -- beckoning Ianto forward with one hand. "You can keep sipping that."

He roots around for a minute then tugs out a bottle, squinting the label before zipping up his bag and swinging it onto his shoulder again.

"No good you having a head injury and sunburn, then you'd really be miserable."

Although, coffee in this heat is not strictly a good idea either if he doesn't drink enough water. Then he'll be dehydrated. John makes an idle mental note to keep an eye on how much Ianto drinks just in case. If he's not used to the heat he might not realise how fast he can dry out.

Ianto's expression pinches as if he can't quite believe the other man's offer -- except he can because there he is, standing with a bottle of sunblock in one hand, motioning him forward, but Ianto feels a bit rooted to the spot. Here he is, gone from trying to pry details from him about what all he had been up to with Jim and now he's offering to, what, apply his sunblock for him, and Ianto feels more than a little confused and conflicted by the sudden change. At least, it feels like a change for him. Maybe John is working along some train of thought that he can't follow.

"Why are you doing this?" he asks, after a long moment's pause. He's not going to say no to the help, but everything about his interactions with the other man the whole morning have felt off. Ever since he met him on Jim's threshold.

John squints at Ianto, then sighs and snaps the bottle closed.

"Because I don't want you to burn and you don't have a mirror but you know what? Fine! You do whatever it is you want to do, Ianto. I was just trying to be nice --"

But apparently he can't do anything right, so what's the point in trying. He shrugs his bag aggressively back onto his shoulder and starts walking again.

Ianto is frankly a little startled by John's sudden turn, and it takes him a moment to process the fact that he is walking away before he steps forward to lay a hand on the other man's arm.

"Wait," he pleads, because he's really honestly not sure what is going on with him or what it is that he's done wrong here either. "Look, I didn't mean that you -- just wait!" He tightens his hand on the other man's arm, hoping it will help him listen. Will help him stop walking again because he doesn't know what he can have this conversation while on the move, not with his head still aching as it is and John will always have the better stamina than him.

He tries to shake off the touch, but Ianto's hand tightens and John sighs and stops to turn toward him. He's pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes defensively, but it doesn't help disguise the surprised way Ianto is looking at him as if he's done something wrong. Which, probably, he has. Again.

"What?" he challenges finally. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're probably all going to imminently die so, spit it out."

John's guards are up and Ianto understands that whatever he's done, he's hit a nerve. Which he hardly understands himself -- all he did was ask questions? And while it's true what John had said, he supposes, he really was just being nice, there's something off. There's been something off the whole time. Is that it, then? Because this is dangerous? Because they could die?

"Talk to me," he asks the other man, not quite releasing his grip on his arm just yet. He wishes he could see his eyes but he suspects that was done on purpose, with the sunglasses. He supposes he knows himself too well. He supposes he knows that Ianto is starting to know him well enough too. "Did something happen yesterday?"

Did something happen? John frowns and makes a second, irritable attempt to shake off the grip.

"Nothing happened other than me spending most of the night looking up shamans while you got yourself nice and cosy. Now, are we walking or not?"

Since he's not wildly comfortable having this weird conversation in the middle of a crowded area.

Ianto isn't going to cling to the other man if he insists on shaking him off, especially not with a mostly full cup of coffee in one hand, so he releases his grip as John tries again. But he can't hide the slight flinch in his expression as John pulls his dig. He might have had a relatively comfortable night in one place, but he had gathered some useful information too, hadn't he? At the sacrifice of an even more comfortable night in, no less.

"No," Ianto says, a bit more tetchily this time because he tried the nice approach and then John went for the throat, "I'm sorry. You show up with extra cuts and bruises I know for a fact you didn't have before, you tell me that I should take what I can get because we might all die in a dragon fire, and now you're upset with me for the fact that I was there in the first place? I gathered information, the same as you, and so what if I didn't to stay up the night wrestling bears or whatever the hell it is you've been doing to get it?"

John rolls his eyes at that, because really? That's what we're doing now?

"I wasn't wrestling bears. Listen, I don't know what your problem is Ianto but you really need to decide what it is you want from me. You're allowed to press me on anything you want but I'm not even allowed to ask questions about your boyfriend without this? Fine, have it that way if that's what you want but it's a little messed up."

He's just saying. He turns and begins to start walking again, half glancing back to see if Ianto is planning to follow or not.

Ianto stands frozen in place again, feeling a little as though John had reached out and struck him with that last comment. It isn't like that, is it? That isn't how he intends for it to be, at any rate. It's not like he minds the questions, per se. It's more the attitude in which they were posed.

He does follow, but he's not sure that he wants to hurry and catch John up again. Not when he's in this mood. They really should stop and look for those boots that Jim suggested, but he's not certain how well that would go over with the other man either. He's confused and honestly a little hurt that whatever it is John's decided to take it out on him too, so his words come out a little harder than he intends at first.

"Stop calling him that, he's not my boyfriend. I've met him in person all of four or five times now, and yes, I spent the night at his apartment. I had a lovely time sleeping on his bed while he courteously slept in the chair, and yes, okay, he offered to take me to Khalo to relax sometime -- a proper date, I imagine -- although as you've so delicately pointed out we might all die in a great dragon fire and that may not end up happening either, so just stop, alright?" He frowns very hard in the other man's direction. "I'm not keeping any great secrets from you, John. If that's what you think."

"Fine," John accepts, and he turns to face Ianto -- gives an exaggerated, sardonic sort of shrug. "I don't care."

He shoves up his sunglasses up again and turns back to the road, trying to clamp down on the waves of irritation. Get it together, John.

"I wouldn't recommend Khalo for relaxing anytime soon, that's our most likely bandit hideout. We buying you shoes or not?"

If Ianto has any of the money he gave him left, that is. Not that he needed it for a room, so unless he's been splurging on something he should. Not that it's any of his business. Ianto can buy whatever he wants.

"Don't you?" Ianto asks, frowning at the other man as he turns away again, his eyebrows furrowed. "I do. And I certainly care what you think of me, at any rate, but if that's how it is."

He lets out a sigh, running a hand over his face before taking a fortifying swallow of his coffee. He really wishes the other man would just tell him what was wrong. Whether it's something he's done so that he can apologize for it or who knows. Explain himself. He hasn't had enough caffeine for this yet. And he really wishes he would stop turning the conversation around.

"Jim was right. I should probably get something better than these, and if I don't want to draw attention to the ring, I should probably get something to put over it as well." Though the thought of wearing gloves in this heat makes him feel a little queasy.

"Shoes take time to walk in, they'll hurt your feet at first. You probably want to not wear them right away if we're going on a lengthy walk. Soaking them first will help."

He dodges around some people and adjusts direction to head toward where he thinks the shops are, trying to remember if he saw a shoe shop. Probably? Not that he was exactly looking for shoes at the time, more for people and likely trouble hot-spots.

"And finish that so you can put some sunblock on," he adds, because he hasn't forgotten that Ianto still isn't wearing any.

And he's back to fussing about the sunblock again. And now the shoes. As if he hadn't had a defensive outburst there about how he was 'just trying to be nice', and Ianto knows, he knows there's more to this than that.

He doesn't protest the attention or the advice. He supposes that John has a point -- to all of it, really. But it eats at him. Leaving the rest of it unresolved. Especially after John's latest jabs. I don't know what your problem is. I don't care.

Ianto takes another sip of his coffee, giving himself the excuse not to respond right away, before finally he asks, "How do you propose we do that, if we're headed to Khalo, then?" Soaking his shoes, that is.

"I was thinking we'd figure something out when we get there, but if you want to just try walking them in be my guest. I'm not carrying you when your feet hurt."

He squints up at the sun, takes a deep breath and digs out his phone as he walks to check something. The heavy overhangs of foliage provide intermittent shade, but more than that John is silently keeping himself aware of people around them. Whatever the shamans are up to, there's equally no reason to think they'd wouldn't be aware anyone who'd been with the wagon could be looking for them and could be a threat. He pauses for a second to glance back, scanning Ianto idly until he's a few steps closer before continuing to walk.

"I'm not asking you to," Ianto replies, glancing aside at the other man as he lets him catch up to his side, before away again. Quietly frowning as he sips at his coffee. John's deflections bother him. John's behavior bothers him. A lot about this situation bothers him, and most of all the way the other man has taken to lashing out at him for pushing him.

"Whatever you think is best," he says, continuing to sip at his coffee and wishing a bit as though he could crawl into his cup and hide from the world at this point instead of dealing with John's odd mood or this trip to Khalo or the mess that might meet them there or any of it. "I shall defer to your expertise." He supposes that John would know how to treat boots after all, having been in the military.

His expertise. Right. John's face twitches at that, some mild twist of irritation. He can't tell if Ianto is digging at him on purpose or if he's just projecting, but either way he can feel himself tensing up again -- as if preparing for another round of attack.

"Maybe you should," he drawls, even though it's not exactly done a lot of good so far. His supposed expertise hadn't helped when the carriage was attacked. He supposed expertise hadn't stopped him being stabbed or Ianto being hit in the head. He glances down at his phone again, agitated, and quickly types a message before stowing it away again. "You need anything else while we're here?"

Other than shoes, apparently, and gloves. John has a little food and water packed, but he doesn't know what Ianto picked up while he was lingering around Wyver. Or what Kirk might have givn him, for that matter.

Ianto glances down at the phone in John's hands and the way he keeps pulling it out, but he doesn't ask. Not yet. Is he allowed to? If he does, would the other man see it as a breech of his privacy? He's obviously got a problem with all the other questions Ianto's been asking.

"Well, another weapon wouldn't hurt," he answers, honestly. "The stun gun can only do so much. But it's rather a moot point I suppose. Unless they're selling firearms around here anywhere, I'm not really trained on anything else. So boots and gloves it is. Maybe an extra canteen or two. Unless you've spotted anything else of note."

"I don't even have a gun," John points out, so really -- if for some reason there are discount gun shops around here then he's buying one for himself first. Still, he slows down again as they begin to pass through some ramshackle things that are beginning to look like shops. Here, everything slowly begins to be more built up -- bit by bit more lit up and noisy as they get further into the more urban areas of Wyver's central sprawl. John turns toward Ianto and starts to dig out his wallet, begins counting out money without really looking up at Ianto.

"Just -- buy whatever you want," he says finally, and holds out what amounts to most of his money. It's not as if it really matters, anyway. It's not a huge amount to begin with, since he's already covering the bulk of everything else. John is not brilliant at saving.

Edited (moodier icon tbh) 2018-06-05 00:41 (UTC)

John may not be great at saving, but Ianto is. At this rate Ianto might wind up having a small fortune himself with all the money John keeps shoving at him to buy himself things. He thinks about commenting to say as much, but there's something about the other man's behavior that stops him. Has him reaching out to take it and carefully hiding it away in his bag (with the rest) before glancing back at the other man, thinking about saying something else, and then thinking better of it.

"...thanks," he says. Feeling a little as though he's being treated like a child, but he doesn't have any money so what right does he have to complain for being given them. "Look, I... Just don't go anywhere, yeah? If you're not coming with me." That's the last thing he needs is John up and disappearing or leaving him behind here.

For a second John looks around and seems as if he's considering the merits of just bolting, of making an excuse for why he has somewhere he needs to go.

"Sure," he says finally, and his tone is light and airy in contrast to the awkward stiffness in his body-language. "Pick a place and I'll wait outside or something, make sure nobody jumps us." You know, shamans or bandits or just people who dislike refugees. He begins to walk again, reflexively reaching out to touch Ianto's arm for a second and draw him along in his wake. "Though you should know I have limited opinions on fashion, so I'd just recommend waterproof and sturdy. Aren't any tailors in my family."

Unlike Ianto's dad, apparently.

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