(Untitled)

[shewaswarned]

One month after the night in the hotel, Ellen checks out. She disconnects her phone after the fifteenth call from Tom and officially closes her e-mail account. They're looking for her. Patty's looking for her - and right now, she doesn't want to be found.

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[coffee_sir]

It was always the little things that marked a newcomer to the island. Sometimes they were kind and made it obvious, appearing naked or dying or both, but usually they just appeared wearing apparel incongruous with the island's standard temperatures.

Not that a peacoat necessarily pointed to inter-dimensional time travel, but Ianto worried for the sanity of anyone who would carry that with them around here by choice. Just as he now judged his sanity for having worn suits for the first six months or so on the island.

He let Banon make the initial greeting, the corgi bounding ahead with tongue wagging to greet the young woman walking down the path, pegged as "New" in Ianto's mind. "She doesn't bite," Ianto called out casually after her. "Though if you're allergic or don't fancy dogs, I can call the vicious beast off."

[shewaswarned]

She's opened the coat now, too warm to be able to wear it much longer, and the scarf hangs loose around her neck after one tug to pull it away from being wound too tight. The gloves she shoves into the pockets of the coat, and now that she knows it's the Compound she's after, maybe she can get some answers from someone, even if she doesn't know who she should be looking for.

The dog trotting up to her certainly looks friendly enough, although she doesn't have much of a wagging tail to give her reference as her ears catch the shout of a voice - the owner, most likely. Ellen slowly crouches down to give the dog a gentle pat, fingers combing through soft brown fur before she looks up, squinting through the glare of the sun until she straightens again. "No, not allergic," she promises, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Is she the official welcome wagon?"

[coffee_sir]

Ianto sauntered closer, hands in the pockets of his jeans and a practiced, easy grin on his face. "She would like that, I'm sure. Don't be too nice to her or you'll never get a bit of peace ever again." The warning came too late of course. Banon, unable to lick at the very nice lady's hand now, took to licking her shoe, desperate to show her affection.

"Fach," Ianto scolded mildly when he came within proper speaking distance. The little dog sat promptly down on her rump. "Do you need a welcome wagon?" he asked. "I can do in a pinch."

[shewaswarned]

Ellen can't help the smile that filters through, as subtle and brief as the sunlight filtering through the trees overhead as a warm ocean breeze comes through, briefly disturbing the branches. It's there, though, despite the undertones of confusion and surprise, and she spares a look for the obedient corgi before turning her gaze on the man.

"I'm supposed to be heading towards the Compound, I think?" she replies. "Am I on the right path?"

[coffee_sir]

"You are," Ianto confirmed. "But the path twists a bit, and other paths join it, and I've got nothing better to do with myself for a little while.."

He turned neatly on his heel so as to now face the same direction as the woman and nodded his head towards the path. "Would you like some company? I'm sure you could find it on your own, honestly, but it's been a while since I've played welcome wagon to anyone. I could use the practice."

[shewaswarned]

"That'd be nice." Her answer surprises her, but frankly, she's had enough insecurity to reckon with for one afternoon, and sticking near someone who can help her out provides a little relief for the time being.

She falls into step next to him, glancing over at him after a beat. "I'm guessing you must have some idea of where we are, exactly."

[coffee_sir]

"None whatsoever," he replied with a falsely chipper grin, letting the statement hang for a handful of seconds. "Unless you mean on the island, in which case we're north of the Compound by about a mile and a half. But in the grand scheme of the universe, the galaxy, this dimension, what have you, none of us do, though not for lack of trying."

[shewaswarned]

"No one," Ellen says, trying not to appear dismayed. It's not that she's specifically looking for all the answers, and she's gotten most of them here already, but not having the answer to the biggest question on her mind right now is proving to be a little unsettling. "Well, I guess I can just take everything one step at a time, and the Compound is the first one of those."

[coffee_sir]

"The only way to go, really." He tried to make the words sound comforting. In any situation which he understood to be too great for him, Ianto had tried to take care of the smaller details, other people, in lieu of being able to make any real difference. Small steps were all that were left to them in these situations; best not to belittle them.

"It's not so bad, when you look at it in a simple sort of way," Ianto went on. "Can't beat the climate. Fresh, organic, healthy food. Free. Booze, also free. Free clothes of questionable style. Beds and shelter. You don't have to fight for survival like you would on other desert islands."

[shewaswarned]

"Oh, so you've had experience with other desert islands, then?" Ellen replies, posing the question with only a limited amount of seriousness as a smile plays at the ends of her mouth, making it impossible for her to stay completely innocent in her sarcasm.

"It does sound a little more than what I'd originally anticipated when I heard the words 'desert island'," she admits, shrugging slightly. "Especially if everything's free."

[coffee_sir]

"Oh, loads," Ianto replied, quietly pleased as ever to take the sarcastic route out of a troubling situation. "Gilligan's. The Swiss Family Robinson's. Robinson Crusoe's. Dr. Moreau's. Prospero's. I even saw that movie, Castaway with Tom Hanks? Bit short on volleyballs around here though. Sorry if you had high hopes. There's plenty of coconuts if you're truly desperate for a friend. So, you see, really, we've lucked out."