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

"Well, my arm could use a break if you're willing."

It's a long time to stand bracing someone like this, even if he doesn't mind it. Not minding doesn't make his arms stop aching.

"Ready to try?"

Just keep focusing on the storm clearing away and the... Ferris Wheel descent, Ianto. That'll make it easier. Probably.

"Remember," John adds softly. "I'll still be right here, okay?"

Breathe in, breathe out. In and out. Is he ready? As ready as he'll ever be, he supposes. He studies John's face for a moment longer before shutting his eyes and letting out another slow breath. No sinking yet. So far so good.

"Yeah, alright," he says, and if he sounds a little breathless that's just because he really hadn't been kidding about not liking the water.

When John lets go of him, Ianto's hand tightens on the other man's arm, but he manages to float on his own for the span of a few moments. Breathe in, breathe out. The storm is clearing away, he's relaxing, he's...

He opens his eyes to look up towards the other man and it ends up being his undoing. He has just enough time to realize what is happening, his eyes widening slightly before his balance shifts, his body tilts, and just like that his head sinks under the water. His hand tightens on John's arm as he panics before seconds later he's flailing his other hand out towards the other man as well.

John catches Ianto easily, one arm under him to steady him and tilt him up so he can stand again -- the other moving so Ianto can grasp it again.

"Hey, hey, take it easy -- I'm right here. You're good."

So, cool down the flailing for a moment.

"That was good! You were there for a minute, right? You did it!"

Better to draw attention to the momentary success than to the frantic splashing, give Ianto something before he begins his negative spiral.

He’s definitely inhaled some water in surprise at the water closing in on him (he really doesn’t know how to swim that much at all okay, not even enough to know you’re supposed to blow air out to keep from doing exactly this) so once John has him upright there is a fair bit of coughing he needs to do first before he’s ready to speak again. Clinging to John’s arm with one hand and reaching out to brace himself against his shoulder with the other. His feet are definitely on the ground though and the water isn’t going to pull him under. He’s fine, John’s got him, and he’s fine.

He tips his head forward to rest his forehead against the other man’s shoulder, gathering his strength in standing still in the water together as they are. “Well,” he replies at last. “It’s certainly longer than I would have managed before without you.” Which is definitely a positive, yes. Also thank you for not letting him drown himself in the shallows in a panic. That really would have been embarrassing.

"Right! Keep this up and we'll make a long distance swimmer of you yet."

Maybe. Probably not. He gives Ianto's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and twitches a faint smile.

"Want to keep practising or get out and try again tomorrow?"

John isn't sure exactly how afraid Ianto is of the water, and how much he can stomach of this floating business in one day before he needs to sit down and take a break.

Ianto takes a few more moments to breathe and steady himself against the other man before he pushes himself to stand up straight and consider it. Does he want to keep practicing or try again tomorrow? Is that a trick question?

"I..." he hedges, stuck between wanting to be brave and show the other man that he can do better than this, and wanting to just keep his feet on solid ground feeling safe and steady. He supposes that he'd felt pretty safe in John's arms right up until the part where John had let him go too, really. "How's your arm holding up?" he asks, which is as good an avoidance of answering the question if ever he's seen one. (But technically still on topic.)

"You let me worry about my arm. I have two of them, so it's fine."

An odd reassurance, but technically true?

"Listen, I can stay here as long as you want holding you up. You were doing pretty well there, I'm pretty sure you can do it again. How about we make a goal? You float for a set amount of time without touching me and we stop and do something you want to do!"

Bribery works, right? I mean it works on John, so it probably works on Ianto? Especially if he gets to get out of the water and pick something to do? What's a fair time, though, for someone scared of water? 15 seconds? 30?

Bribery and reassurances that he's not as terrible as he's imagining he is. Ianto knows that he'll never impress John with floating, but someday he has to do something in front of him that isn't hiding under a carriage or falling down a vine or battling a sunburn or drowning in five feet of water that demonstrates he is not as terrible at life as all of this would have him seem.

"Yeah, alright," he says, glancing back to the shoreline and then back at John determinedly. The question is what does he want to do, and what's worth trying this again, but John gave him an offer, and it could be anything. His choice. Khalo seems to be full of options for that matter, he can make up his mind when he can think straight on solid ground again. "If you're asking for a minute or something you might as well just let me get out now though."

"Nah, not a minute. How about thirty seconds?"

Long enough to not be too easy as a goal, so it's still satisfying? Not long enough to be excessively hard? At least, that's how it feels to John -- but he's been running in and out of waves without a care since he was a child. Everything is going to feel easier to him than it would be to Ianto, and he has to keep that in mind.

Thirty seconds shouldn't sound as daunting as it does, but he tries not to think about it too hard. Tries to remember the same breathing techniques that he was using earlier to keep himself from panicking and just giving up. It's only thirty seconds, get yourself together Ianto. Pull it off, impress him with your effort. (Not that thirty seconds of floating is very impressive but it's the thought that counts.)

"Thirty seconds," Ianto agrees, steeling himself to do this. "Right. Okay. Think you could... Help me get started again?" He isn't sure he needs quite the same pep talk but he guarantees that if he tries to just lay back in the water it will be a no go.

He lets out another breath, and a shaky laugh besides. "You know, most people's reward would be the nude beach," he muses aloud. "I wonder what that says about me..."

"We could do nudist fungle instead. Or nudist smoking lounge."

John moves in closer again ready to brace Ianto, letting out a slow breath himself. He needs to be steady so Ianto can channel his steadiness, after all.

"Now, doesn't have to be first try -- okay? Just remember. Ferris wheel. Clouds parting. Clear blue skies and troubles floating away. Once you start floating, don't move or look around. That'll disturb your weight distribution in the water, throw off your balance. Keep your palms flat, fingers spread out. Bigger surface areas float better. Remember, I'm right here. Nothing to be scared off, yeah?"

Ianto takes a deep breath himself as he moves to lie back and focus his mind on things other than the water closing in on him. Like John's suggestions of the fungle or the smoking lounge and whether he had actually been serious about either of them. So far so good, he at least gets himself floating while balanced on John's arm again, though that's the easy part. Balanced with John's help, clutching at John's arm. He's not supposed to be clutching at him here, is he? Ianto forces himself to release his grip and let his hands float, forcing himself to breathe again.

"One of these days," he says, nervously, "I really need to ask you where all this with the Ferris wheels came from." You know. Both the relaxation technique and. The obsession with Ferris wheels in general.

"I like Ferris Wheels."

Isn't that reason enough? It's not an obsession! He watches Ianto try to relax, trying to gauge the right moment to let him float on his own.

"I'm not exactly an expert on meditation," he continues, hoping the sound of his voice will be a distraction. "But, I did do a little of it -- and you're meant to have a journey or something. A peaceful image. So I went with a Ferris Wheel! You can always pick something else if it doesn't work for you."

John begins to slowly ease back his support, watching Ianto to make sure he's ready and isn't about to splash. Probably keep talking, he figures.

"It does kinda works with the journey thing, right? The wheel turns you up and brings you back down!"

The talking helps. Keeps his mind off of what he's actually trying to do, and on the sound of John's voice instead. Trying to follow along with his train of thought is a lot more pleasant than thinking about the water and starting to panic.

He's on the fence as to whether a Ferris wheel is a peaceful image or not though. It's not that he dislikes them. He's not afraid of heights, not in the way that he is of water.

"I suppose so," he says, after a moment's thought. Trying hard not to think about whether he can feel John's hand on his back or not. "I guess I'd just never thought of them as peaceful before."

"Well," John says, and his hands is now about two inches below Ianto as he counts in his head, "what do you find peaceful? Open countryside, maybe? The hum of traffic in a city street? The smell of coffee in a fancy coffee shop?"

Ianto is a city boy, after all, maybe he finds the sights and sounds of a busy place more relaxing?

"Your journey can be whatever you like, it just has to... you know, have a beginning, middle and end. At some point you encounter trouble and overcome it, free yourself of your burdens. All that stuff."

It's a... loose approximation of the concept, but John figures that it's enough for their purposes -- and enough to keep Ianto thinking about things that will keep him from focusing on the water.

Ianto gives the question a moment's thought. What does he find peaceful? Growing up, he had found it peaceful going to his Nan's. His Nan's in general, really. He'd felt safe there. He could tell her anything. But she had died, and he had his fond memories of what she had meant to him yet they weren't a peace that he could find now. He felt safe in the Torchwood Hub, but it's gone now too, and it had never really been peaceful either. Just a home away from home.

Ianto can't deny that he's a fussy man. He struggles to find that inner peace within himself, never mind outside of it. "I..." he says, which is about the time he realizes that John's hand is no longer at his back supporting his weight. Well, he'd known that John hadn't been supporting him for a while now, but he'd not really registered it up until this moment. Floundering for a thought, and floundering for his balance, he does his best to think about how long it had been. Ten seconds? Fifteen? Is he floating away? No, John wouldn't let him do that. He has to still be just there beside him. He is... Isn't he?

It's glancing aside at the other man -- or the thought process that has him doing so, he supposes -- that gets him in the end. Ianto isn't a swimmer, he doesn't know how to scull. Turning his head to the side tips his balance and before he knows it he's rolling sideways, grabbing for the other man and trying to gain a sense of equilibrium that doesn't just have him madly flailing in the water again. Well shit. So much for peaceful thoughts.

John hasn't moved away, so once Ianto begins to flail he's close enough to move inand steady him quickly.

"Hey!" he prompts, "hey, easy. Get your feet down. It's not deep, remember? I'm right here."

So Ianto can grab onto him if he wants, but John is focusing on helping him get upright so he can stand up in the water.

"Easy does it. Feet down, take a breath. I'm right here."

So nothing to worry about, right? John isn't about to let him drown, after all. Especially not in perfectly still shallow water when he's inches away from him.

It doesn't take Ianto too long to right himself this time. He at least does register which directions are up and down and that his feet can touch the floor of the pool the same as John's. It's just the panic of the water closing in on him that causes him to react irrationally, and he needs to take a few moments bracing himself against the other man, breathing steadily, before he can collect himself enough to reply.

"It's no use," he says, a little breathlessly, as he forces himself to straighten and loosen the vice-like grip he's fastened on John's arm once more. "That may be as good a result as you're going to get." He's not sure how many more times he can keep doing this though before he has to just call it a night. It's easier said than done to relax after all when his fear of the water around him has his body all but vibrating with adrenaline. "The only way you're going to get me to relax in here any longer is if you drug me."

"Well, then it's a good thing we don't need to today. That was over thirty seconds."

So you did it, Ianto! John flicks him an easy smile and claps a hand to his shoulder encouragingly.

"Which means you get to pick what we do next! I'm assuming it involves getting out of the water."

You know, away from any possible place he might drown. It seems a pretty fair assumption all things considered, although what Ianto will actually want to do once they're out John isn't sure. He doesn't think they have coffee shops in Khalo. A library, maybe? They could ask. Would he pick that, though, when it feels like something he'd have probably done anyway eventually? He guesses he might just to do anything indoors away from the water.

Ianto breathes out a sigh of relief, before turning to begin wading out of the water towards the shoreline. "Like you even had to ask," he replies. "Come on. If we're not clean enough now, then there's no helping us. Do you think they have towels?" Maybe the idea is just that they're supposed to air dry, naked as the day they were born. He's already done this wrong by insisting on wearing his underwear in. He's got a full change of clothes but obviously these fairy people aren't big on privacy either.

Making his way back up to his bag again, Ianto wraps his arms around himself and stands dripping, trying to assess the situation. At least he feels better for the wash, he supposes, but he's still half-naked and wet and feeling very exposed in front of the other man. The other man who he's made a fool of himself in front of several times over today already. The other man who he had climbed into bed with not that long ago. The other man who is also dripping wet and honestly very attractive and has made it a point to comment several times after the color of Ianto's eyes.

"I need a drink," he decides aloud.

"Well, I'm pretty sure there must be some kind of drinking hole here. If they smoke they definitely drink."

At least, John is pretty sure that's how it works.

He grabs up his t-shirt and gives it a quick dunk into the water, trying to roughly clean it as best he can with bar soap and hoping it'll dry out in the heat.

"Anyway, you'll dry off in about five minutes in this heat. Probably be clammy again in another five."

So don't worry about it, Ianto, you don't need a towel.

"I'm counting on it," Ianto replies, watching John wash his shirt in the water and wondering if he should do the same with his own clothes. Maybe later, when he can hang them up properly.

Sighing slightly, Ianto submits himself to the fact that he's just going to have wet shorts for the next while and bends to start collecting his clothes. Slipping his tshirt on and awkwardly slinging his trousers over his shoulder before turning back to John.

"In this humidity? I'll be lucky if I ever dry out again," he gripes, albeit only halfheartedly.

"That just makes it prime weather for lots of swimming practice and wet t-shirt competitions to stay cool."

John sounds cheerful about this, but it's partially forced cheer. He's still a little tired and tense about everything they have to do, wary of their surroundings and of the pressure of time on their shoulders.

Wringing out his t-shirt again finally he gives it a shake, squints at it then drapes it over his shoulder a moment while heading back to his bag.

"It's cooler inside at least," he adds, because Ianto is grouchy but it isn't the worst. "Sunblock," he adds, and something in his smile says he knows Ianto won't fully appreciate this.

Ianto groans softly, turning to squint up at the dappled canopy above them and then tosses John an exasperated look.

"Isn't it enough to just -- agree that we're going to be indoors for the next while and leave it off for now?" he all but begs. Because no, Ianto does not appreciate the idea of sunblock in the slightest. He has just washed the damn stuff off of himself, after being covered in multiple layers of it for days, can't he just enjoy being clean a change?

"Well if you want to peel like a snake, be my guest."

John shrugs expansively, digging out some to put on himself for a start. Leading by example is meant to be good, right? John can lead by example, since even though he doesn't burn as easily there's no need to tempt fate.

[ FINISHED/CLOSED ]

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