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.

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"Well I don't know about your shoulders," John admits, "but the suits are a better look on you. Not that I've seen the dress in person, but --"

He shrugs, breaks up a piece of cracker to eat. The suits are a good look to begin with, and he's not really into the cross-dressing thing so he can imagine that it's overall a better look. That's close enough, right?

Ianto regards the other man carefully, taking another sip of the water as he studies him. A better look than what? The dress? Or in general? Had that been an attempt at a compliment? Should he take it as such?

He reaches for another cracker, playing with it between his fingers as he thinks. It's not as though he had been fishing for compliments, after all. But after all the talk on the walk over about his eyes and his hands, it does leave him wondering. The walk over leaves him wondering about a lot of things, truth be told. The top of the list being whether he should really take anything he’s saying here seriously at all. Then again, why shouldn’t he? It’s all rather confusing, for as fuzzy as he feels.

"More's the pity that it's been so damned hot lately, then," he replies at last. "Just the thought of suiting up in this weather is enough to make me sweat. You may just get your wish yet." You know, to see more of his skin and all. Or was it his legs specifically he was after? He holds the water bottle out to John again, in case he wants it back. "At least we don’t have to worry about the sun under all these trees."

"You can still burn in the shade, the question is how much sunlight actually makes it through the canopy."

They should really take a proper look outside soon. He takes back the water bottle, uncaps it again and takes another sip.

"How you holding up?"

His initial reply hadn't really told John anything much, so he's hoping the water and food are helping. You know, and that Ianto isn't secretly still feeling spinny or nauseous or something. He seems fine, though, maybe a little slowed down still? Mostly fine. Good enough to make jokes, which is a hopeful sign.

Ianto really wants to argue that he's not this delicate flower that John seems to think he is, but he does burn as easily in the sun as the other man is implying, and he really has been having a difficult time of it the past few days staying up on his hydration and his blood sugar. That on top of the knock on the head it's probably only through John's fussing and sheer force of will alone that he didn't accidentally pass out on the other man at some point or another. But still. It's embarrassing, and under normal circumstances he should be able to hold his own.

"I'm fine," he mumbles, glancing aside at the other man and knowing won't be enough for him before forcing himself to elaborate. "It's too hot, and I. Could really use a shower by now. But I'll be fine. Water is helping." He reaches up to run a hand through his hair, massaging the back of his neck before he suggests, "We might want more than bread and crackers to get us through the night. If you feel like taking a look around? Sounds like the village is still up and about." When do fairies sleep, he wonders to himself, and puts the thought aside for now.

"I think I remember there being a big pool thing, maybe you can have a swim to cool off. They don't seem like the complex plumbing type."

More than rainwater collection type, with some minimal piping to funnel it. He re-caps the bottle, holds it back towards Ianto and considers his shoes thoughtfully where he dropped them on the floor.

"Swimming does sound nice, actually."

Since John feels clammy too. Maybe they should both take a swim. He drops his eyes further down to his own t-shirt with frown, plucks at the front of it and sniffs thoughtfully. Yeah. Probably he should take a swim and... maybe rinse his t-shirt out? It'd probably dry out on its own, eventually.

He takes the bottle back from him and takes another sip from it, contemplating the idea of it as he watches John subtly sniff at himself. His lips quirking slightly at the frown on his face as he does.

"No, I don't suppose that they are," he agrees. He vaguely remembers the pool, but he's never been very fond of large bodies of water, and he has to wonder just how big it is. How deep. Swimming...

"You'd come too then, yeah?" he asks. Hoping he doesn't sound too apprehensive about the idea. He hadn't really remembered the pool until John mentioned it. He still doesn't, really. It's all a bit of a blur.

"Seems like a good idea unless there are showers after all. I could probably do with getting clean too."

He snags another cracker and eases himself off the bed finally, holding it in his mouth and stretching out a little before biting off a section. Carefully manoeuvring toward the exit he peers out the room and down at the village below.

"Huh," he says softly, because it... still does look amazing. The whole village feels like it belongs in some wild fantasy movie, giant tree people and all. He takes another bite of cracker and tries to stop his heart racing in both excitement and nerves as he watches the Khali flit around.

Edited (wrong icon) 2018-06-16 14:20 (UTC)

"Given they've built their living spaces in the trees themselves, somehow I doubt that," Ianto says. Watching John for a moment as he stands and stretches before bending to fetch his shoes and lace them on again.

"Do you think they'd let me soak these boots in their pool?" he asks, glancing up at the other man after a moment of thought. "That is what you said I'm supposed to do with them, isn't it?"

Pushing himself up once he's done with his laces, he grabs the water bottle again and moves to stand beside the other man by the doorway. He carefully takes a step out to glance out and around, down and up and side to side to orient himself in their place in the city. It's mad, he remembers thinking, and it's still mad even now. He shakes his head as another of the little green Khali people soars by the entrance to their room, and takes a step back into the room. "Neverland indeed," he murmurs, the height honestly making him feel a little queasy at first. It had been much easier getting up there when he hadn't had the capacity to worry about how high up they really were.

"You can always ask."

He backs away from the edge and packs up his bag (he could probably leave it but... well, you never know in a strange place) then moves out into the tiny entryway and tests a vine. It... seems solid enough.

"Well, if I go first then I can break your fall if you misjudge. How's that?"

It's not that far down, it's just... the vines. You know. Ladders are better. He shoots Ianto a sardonic smile and reaches out to grab the vine, takes a last look down before beginning to carefully climb down it.

Break his fall. Right. At least John hadn't offered to catch him, Ianto thinks to himself as he watches the other man start down the vine. Knowing himself, there's no way he'll be able to make this graceful. But at least he's going to do his damnedest not to fall.

He stays where he is, watching John climb until he's sure he's made it to the bottom before crossing to grab his bag, sticking the water bottle in it as he tries to mentally fortify himself for the climb as well. It doesn't work, of course. Once he's back at the ledge, he reaches out to touch the vine before looking apprehensively down at the man below.

"I don't suppose you have any words of advice," he calls out.

John squints up at him in thought a long moment.

"Don't fall?" He settles on, followed by: "It isn't far enough to kill you. Just take it easy and don't rush."

There, good enough?

Edited (Tense) 2018-06-16 17:01 (UTC)

“Comforting...” Ianto mutters to himself, tugging on the vine slightly as he looks down at John and thinks about how much he really doesn’t want to do this. Knowing him, he’d get about halfway down before his hands would cramp up and he’d wind up breaking an arm or something. If only...

An idea comes to him, and Ianto has to admit that it’s probably not a very good one, but it’s beyter than falling and embarrassing himself otherwise. Setting his bag down at his feet he fishes through it before producing his new gloves. He’s not quite sure what leather they’re made from but they’re tough enough to be able to handle this, he’s sure. Zipping his bag back up and securing it on his back, he puts them on, reaching out for the vine again and taking a deep breath.

“Heads up!” he calls out, before taking the vine in both hands, hooking both his feet around it, and pushing off to let gravity take care of the rest of the work.

He takes a step back at the warning to give Ianto space, glances around before looking up. His eyes widen slowly as he realises how quickly Ianto is moving, and then John is stepping forward again quickly read to grab Ianto in case he doesn't slow down properly. His hands snatch out at him as soon as he's in range, face furrowed in concern and irritation in equal measure.

"Jesus, Ianto! What the hell happened to taking it easy and not rushing?"

Apparently Ianto asked for his advice and then decided to just discard it. Not that John doesn't do the same thing often enough, but still. He does so with experience to guide him! It's different. Probably.

Well. John had offered to break his fall...? In the end he does so admirably, as the theory of sliding down the vine works a lot better than the practice of it, and as Ianto suspected, he’s really not strong enough to successfully slow his descent. John’s hands reach out to catch him just in time for his feet to tangle in the vines and he breathes a sigh of relief as a potential disaster is averted. Right. Not trying that again then.

Easing his hands off the vine once he’s sure he’s not about to fall over he glances aside at the other man sheepishly. “Well, I didn’t know whether I could hold myself the whole way down, so.” It seemed like a good idea at the time...

"If you wanted to fall into my arms there are really better ways to go about it."

Seriously. He lets out a sigh and loosens his grip once he's sure Ianto is steady, glances back up at the vine with an uncertain squint then down at Ianto's gloved hands. He's trying to gauge how tough the stuff is -- did a layer of plant strip off from that?

"Next time at least try the slow way first, alright?"

Please, for the sake of his nerves.

Ianto eases himself out of John's arms, his face flushing brightly in response to his quip. He takes a few steps away from the other man, pulling off his gloves and moving to shove them in his bag.

"Alright," he says, perhaps a little more sharply than he should. "Okay. Next time I'll try things your way. Slow and easy, I've got it. Maybe you can just carry me down next time and save us both the hassle," he quips, though he's obviously flustered. Hooking his hands in the straps of his bag he starts off down the path towards the pool.

Well alright then. John watches Ianto stride off and senses, distantly, that he may be... discontent. With him, since there's... nobody else for him to be discontent with.

"Would if I could," John says finally, slowly beginning to pick his way after Ianto, "but I'd need my hands for climbing down so it'd probably be more precarious than you trying on your own."

He's just say. All the mental images of him trying this involve some sort of strap or sling situation and may well not be at all safer if Ianto was, in fact, capable of climbing at all.

Of course John would take such a suggestion seriously when Ianto had thrown it out as an annoyed quip more than anything else. He raises a hand to run over his face and through his hair to keep himself from tossing any further comments back at the other man, forcing himself to just keep walking towards the pool instead.

"Look, just. Never mind, alright? I'll figure it out. Let's just find this pool, yeah?" He'd just really like to get clean and feel a little more normal again. Maybe after that he'll find the energy to think about vines and John and whether or not he's flirting because he can, or because he wants to.

At least that's the idea, until they get closer to the pool itself and Ianto notices the Khali's state of dress. Or state of undress, as it is. Slowing to a stop, he looks around, an almost comical look of dismay on his face as he turns to John.

John doesn't instantly clock what is bothering Ianto, because it's a big old pool and the Khali are small green fairies. He moves to the waters edge without comment and shrugs off his bag, drops it to the ground and reaches out to test the temperature.

Which is about the time a few Khali flit up to him.

"Hi!" he begins conversationally, slowly becoming aware of how undressed they are and... actually how undressed everyone in the area is. "Nice place you've got," he adds, "I was just admiring this pool."

He glances back and around to try and pinpoint Ianto, for both moral support and also help carefully navigating a conversation with naked tinkerbells.

Unlike some, Ianto has hung back upon the discovery of the Khali's nudity. Of everyone's nudity, really. They aren't the only visitors from out of town here, after all, and the large majority of them have absolutely nothing on at all either.

Ianto isn't really certain what the rules are as far as this pool is concerned, but he knows for damned sure that he is not getting naked just to get clean. Not in front of all of these people, strangers or no, and certainly not in front of John.

"Ehm," Ianto says, stepping up beside the other man and determined to keep his eyes somewhere polite, even if the Khali really aren't something that he'd go for anyway. "Yes. Look, we just. Were hoping to be able to use... The pool. And we'd just like to know." He glances aside to John for assistance here. Come on John, you can keep your head around naked aliens, can't you? "How one might go about... Such a thing?"

God, that's terrible, but he can't just come out and say 'I've noticed you're all very naked must I undress as well', he can barely get this much out as it is.

"Yeah!" John says, "are we allowed in the pool? I wasn't, you know, sure of the rules or anything since we're new here. I'm John, by the way, and this is --"

He hesitates as they latch fingers into his tactical vest (which is only loosely shrugged on) and begin pulling it off.

"... Oh, thank you! That's very kind. I was just thinking I was too warm."

You know, even though he would have... preferred to get undressed himself, but still.

"So, I mean I'm not as --" One reaches for his t-shirt and he tugs the bottom back down, flashes a smile. "Good looking as all of you are, so that means that --"

One flits in close to John and he lofts an eyebrow, focusing on what it's whispering before nodding with a sigh and beginning to pull off his t-shirt.

"Okay, we get undressed or we leave."

Ianto watches with slight horror as the little Khali start to undress the other man, glancing around warily just in case they're about to start trying to do the same to him. Luckily enough, they seem to concentrate mostly on John. At least, he thinks it's lucky up until the point where the other man starts stripping off his tshirt.

"What do you mean, undressed?" Ianto asks, glancing around warily at the Khali. His hands instinctively come up to fist themselves in the straps of his bag, as though if he holds his bag on it will save him from being stripped somehow. "You can't be serious. I'm not. I don't." He sputters a few times before looking back at John and trying again. "I'm not going skinny-dipping in front of all of these people, John, I --"

He drops his t-shirt to the floor and begins working on his shoelaces, raising an eyebrow at Ianto.

"It's not skinny dipping, Ianto, they're having a bath. You don't have a bath with your clothes on. Look, there are kids here and everything!"

Which means it's not kinky or weird. He pulls off one shoe and sock and swaps to the other, half scanning the crowds around the pool.

"Besides, if you linger around wearing all your clothes they'll think you're just here to watch and that would not be good -- Yes! Thank you, I can do that."

He carefully bats a Khali away from helping him off with his belt, presses his lips together to suppress unease and pulls off his other shoe and sock.

"Maybe you can keep your shorts on or something? Hey, can we keep our shorts on? We're just, you know, shy and... it's cold."

It's not cold, he knows. The khali he asks looks extremely unimpressed, but nods finally. That's fine, John is used to not impressing people. It doesn't even sting anymore.

He gets the feeling that the Khali really will start stripping him or sending him packing if he doesn't start doing something so after a moment Ianto reluctantly moves to set down his bag and shrug off his overshirt. See? He's taking off his clothes. Please leave them alone now.

He makes a great show of removing his socks and shoes until the little fairies are satisfied and leave them be and he breathes a sigh of relief. Glancing back at John and raising an eyebrow at the other man before hissing across at him, hopefully out of the hearing of any of the nearby Khali themselves, "It's cold? Are you serious?" Alright, so it had done the trick in the end, but honestly. Also, why is he the only one who seems to have a problem with the undressing thing?

Is he serious? John scrunches up his face and shrugs helplessly.

"If you can think of a better way to explain away your performance anxiety be my guest, but they're letting you keep it on so take what you can get."

He starts unbuckling his belt and holsters, skimming his eyes over the area again as he lets them drop to the ground.

"You wanted to get clean, Ianto, so we're getting clean!" he adds, and lifts his eyes back up to him. There's a twitch of discomfort that suggests, no, maybe Ianto isn't the only one a little uncomfortable with this.

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