[RL WITH SULU AND JACK] backdated to the 19th

[torchwoodteaboy]

So far, Ianto's birthday had gone pretty much like any other day, which was just well enough for him. There were no big emergencies, there was no huge excitement that might lead to one of his friends or himself dying, it was just business as usual. Expense reports, feeding Myfanwy, cleaning the Hub, that sort of thing. Of course, Gwen had brought

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[takeitoutofpark]

Sulu was... nervous. Extremely, terribly, utterly nervous. He'd dressed down after work, into a pair of jeans and a tee; even though he sort of wanted to go full out, with the button-down shirt and the vest and tie (all because he knew Ianto thought it looked good), he also knew that multiple layers might turn out to be the enemy tonight.

Besides. He wanted to be comfortable. It would relax him.

None of his nervous energy was negative, of course; he wouldn't have suggested that he and Jack ambush Ianto on his birthday like they were planning on doing if he was uncomfortable with the situation. It was mostly that, once it got to that point, he wasn't sure how it was going to go. Thankfully, he wouldn't be the only awkward bee at this particular party, so he could relax a little on that front.

Since Sulu didn't really have a physical present planned for Ianto, he didn't need to run to the botany lab or anywhere else on the ship to get something. Instead, he just grabbed his Portkey and found himself standing in Ianto's flat.

[torchwoodteaboy]

"Yep! In here!" Ianto called out, sitting forward and putting the coffee mug down on a coaster on the coffee table in front of him before standing and making his way to the entryway. He'd greeted Sulu like this dozens of times, but it didn't stop him from being a little awkward about it nonetheless. Perhaps this time it was due to the fact that it was his birthday, and therefore he knew to anticipate something, just not what yet.

"Hey," he said, with a smile at the other man, stepping forward into the entryway. He did notice that Sulu didn't seem to be carrying anything with him, but he knew better than to assume that he didn't have something up his sleeve instead.

[takeitoutofpark]

When he heard Ianto reply, he chewed his lip slightly as he quickly texted Jack before slipping his comm back into his pocket. Might as well set up the ten-minute timer.

Smiling as Ianto approached, Sulu moved forward - despite the fact that he was going to have to be very awkward soon, greeting Ianto was something he could do without worry. Dropping his hand to Ianto's arm, he leaned in and kissed the other gently. "Hey," he said after a moment, grinning. "Happy birthday."

He tilted his head forward, as if nodding towards the living room, then paused. Wait. Should they be in the living room? Probably. Yeah, okay. He grinned self-consciously. "Pre-emptive warning, I'm going to be pretty awkward here for the next ten minutes."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled as Sulu stepped forward, leaning forward and kissing him back when Sulu initiated the contact. After Sulu pulled back, his smile widened and the almost ever-present blush he had spread across his face. "Thank you," he said. "I'm glad you could make it down, that you weren't on a double shift or anything like that."

At the nod towards the living room and the self-conscious smile and apology, Ianto tilted his head slightly, giving the other man a curious look. "Uh-oh. Preemptive warnings of awkward now, is it? Should I be concerned or worried here?" Ianto smiled. "Don't worry about it too much, whatever you have planned. If I had to apologize or warn you every time I was going to be awkward about something, then we might never get anything done."

[takeitoutofpark]

Sulu continued to smile in that self-conscious way, shaking his head a little. "Don't worry, I don't think its something you should worry about or anything." Ianto did have a point, though - no reason to apologize or anything. Well. Hopefully, if Ianto didn't get offended that he'd sort of gone above him in this particular instance.

Taking Ianto's hand in his, he made for the living room, half-talking, half-babbling as he went. "Okay, so. I was... Do you remember that one night, when we were both really drunk and texting each other?" Might as well start from the beginning. He just had to explain it before Jack showed up, after all, and this was the easiest way to do it. He hoped.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto let Sulu take his hand and lead him to the living room, slightly bemused as he followed along behind the other man. "Well...it depends. As far as I can remember, there were two nights where we did that," he said, with a smile. "One was a bit more recent than the other, and one was a virus. So it depends on whether you're talking about the virus one or the...random occasion one, I guess, but yeah. I remember both, vaguely."

He nodded to the sofa, where he'd been sitting before. "Here. Want to sit down? I can make you a coffee, if you like?" It might help calm his nerves, Ianto thought, but then again, caffeine effected different people in different ways, so maybe not.

[takeitoutofpark]

"The virus one is the one I'm thinking of," Sulu said with a laugh, falling into the sofa easily. Instead of coffee, he thought a shot of liquor would probably be better, but he wasn't about to ask for that, that was for sure.

Man, he should've done some pre-gaming, he realized. "I'm good without coffee for right now," he said, even though he looked a little put off that he was actually turning down Ianto's coffee. He was on a mission, damn it. He decided to throw all his chips in, and leaned into the sofa, looking up at Ianto with very innocent, "Me-hide-a-creeping-vine-in-Chekov's-cabin?-Never!" sort of look and asked, "Do you remember anything in particular you might've said during that one virus? Something I might've teased you kind of relentlessly and in public about?"

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto raised an eyebrow, looking down at Sulu from where he sat before moving to join him. "Not... Not exactly, no. You sort of tease me relentlessly about a great many things I've said or done over the course of any given day, that's a bit vague of a clue to give me, there," he said, with a smile. Leaning forward, he picked his mug up off the table. Just because Sulu didn't want any coffee didn't mean he couldn't finish his, right? He had offered like any good host should.

"To be honest, I can't remember much about that virus, or any conversation I had during it. I think that was the point, really. I seem to recall something about liking your hands and you've teased me about that relentlessly both publicly and elsewhere, but somehow I don't think that's exactly what you're talking about here..."

[takeitoutofpark]

Of course Ianto didn't remember. Sulu only remembered because he'd been the one to find the text in the morning, and the one to have posted about it. But he was pretty sure that Ianto only needed a little reminding.

He tried to act and sound casual, but the nervous energy was too much to hide completely, leaving him a little jittery from nerves. "Yeah, you did have a lot to say about my hands, but that's not it. It had something to do with Jack?"

C'mon, Ianto. Sulu swore to God that if he acted like Jack and played dumb, he was going to... well, not do anything in particular, but he'd definitely give him a very stern look. He imagined, at least.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto shook his head, trying to remember back on it. He could probably look it up if he really wanted to, and the conversation was probably still saved in his phone's memory somewhere, but. Ianto tried to think hard and remember what it could possibly be that Sulu was referencing now. It...had been right after they'd gotten back from that cruise, if Ianto remembered correctly. Which means that they'd only been dating for a little while, it was before the incident with the 456, and almost a year ago.

"...you do remember that we were both drunk when we were doing this texting, yeah?" Ianto said, sheepishly, feeling bad that he couldn't remember what Sulu was referencing just yet, although it was just there, on the edge of his mind. "What's a conversation from that long ago got to do with now, anyway? I'm guessing it's relevant, since you're bringing it up..."

[takeitoutofpark]

"You weren't drunk when I accidentally called you out on it the next day," Sulu replied, and he did go ahead and give Ianto a flat look, but only briefly before laughing. "Yeah, I figured you might not remember, I'm just trying to..." Cut down on the awkwardness, at least on his behalf.

Sighing, he decided to try and say as much as he could before his brain told him he was making a fool of himself. "Y'know, you were saying something about Jack and me and you...? And we talked about it and decided to put off talking about it for a while, even though it seemed like an, uh, entertaining idea? And, you know." He raised both eyebrows at Ianto expectantly.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Alright, an expectant look from Sulu, that had to mean something. What was Sulu getting at, here, though. Something about Jack and him and Sulu that they had mentioned but ended up putting off talking about for a while, that had seemed like an entertaining idea, and Sulu had teased him about it... Oh.

Ianto was glad that he hadn't been drinking his coffee at that moment, because he might have either choked on it or spit it out, and neither would have been a very attractive reaction. As it was, though, he did turn bright red as he looked at Sulu. "...oh," he said, sounding as intelligent as he probably looked, sitting there gaping at him. "Oh, I... That post." It all came rushing back to him. "I guess... I guess that this is where that 'every sense of the word' really comes into play, isn't it? Is... That is what you meant, right?"

[takeitoutofpark]

Sulu broke out into a grin when he saw Ianto's face, mostly out of relief that he hadn't needed to go into graphic detail about what he'd planned with Jack. "Yeah," he said, his grin softening a little, "That's what I was getting at. Jack and I - we, uh, talked. And we thought you might enjoy it. And since he was all for it..."

He was blushing, and he knew that. Still, he soldiered on, "If. You know, you want to. I mean, he's on his way, but I can text him..." He was only just then realizing that Ianto might have some qualms about it. But now he was at least realizing that it really was better to be telling Ianto about it first, rather than just springing Jack on him in the middle of them making out. "We thought it might be fun, is all. And better than me getting you another plant," he added with a laugh.

[torchwoodteaboy]

Well, there they were, sat on Ianto's couch together, blushing at each other and discussing threesomes. If Ianto had ever been asked to make a prediction about how his birthday would go, it would never have included a moment like this. Not that that was a bad thing, but just. He didn't even know how to react. He didn't know how to properly react, when someone just proposed a very real situations such as that to himself, that was for certain. Still, though.

"Yeah. It. I mean. Not that I don't like the plants, but. There...might be a little more. Y'know. Physical gratification in this. I. I mean. I don't even know where to... But. I wouldn't have suggested it if I weren't. If I weren't interested..." Wow, he was handling this situation pretty well so far, he thought, sarcastically. "So. Jack's... Jack's on his way over, then? The two of you...y'know, coordinated on this?"

[takeitoutofpark]

Ianto was definitely handling it better than Sulu thought he would - honestly, if only to make himself feel better, he couldn't help but think they were both doing admirably well, given the circumstances.

"Yeah. We sort of did. I mean... I asked him if he thought it would be a good idea, and he agreed. And this, right here, is about as far as the planning got." He grinned, embarrassed and nervous, and rubbed a hand over his face. "Which was probably for the best, because I'm pretty sure I'd rather get through the critical levels of mortal embarrassment before Jack shows up and makes it even worse."

[torchwoodteaboy]

Ianto smiled wider, blushing deeper at that statement. "You mean to say that it was your idea in the first place, then?" he asked, with a grin. "That you actually had a conversation with Jack somewhere where you presented the possibility of a threesome with me to him?"

He shook his head, chuckling slightly. "God, I hope he wasn't too insufferable right there and then. I know how he can get sometimes, he probably didn't make it very easy for you there, did he? Still..." He quirked an eyebrow slightly at the other man. "I have to admire your determination, if you really did get this far, in spite of anything. Even if there's no planning any further than this, that means that you at least got through the initial conversation with Jack, which...is admirable of you," he said, with another grin.