A different room. Ianto feels it like a punch to the gut and he can't help the bitterness that wells within him. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut, if he'd known this would be how John would react.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he spits back at the other man. "You'd like for me to agree with you and turn you away, let you slink off and prove your point. That you're too difficult, too stubborn, a disappointment."

He lets the word hang in the air because he's pretty sure that's the crux of the matter, or at least one of them. John's disappointment in himself. Over the dragon. Over his career, perhaps. Maybe there are other things he feels like he's failed himself over that Ianto's only begun to scratch the surface of, for that matter.

Letting out a long breath, Ianto takes the few steps back to close the distance between the pair of them, crouching on the floor before the other man and reaching to put his hands on John's in turn.

"You are my friend, John. You will be my friend, no matter what you think you can't give me. No matter what you might not want to give me. If you're not comfortable with... This. With me. I'll go. I'll go. If that's what you want."