tampered | Log; In Progress

Despite his earlier joking, Tony's kitchen was almost sterilized in its cleanliness, if only because earlier he'd made a complete mess of it trying to make those mint bars for Lee and only a strategically placed scrubbing bubble spell had kept his stove top from looking like it'd been at Ground Zero.

The downside to scrubbing bubbles was that the spell was hard to stop once it got going. Tony had rescued the non-burnt pan of mint bars and retreated to the living room for the hour it took the spell to be satisfied with the state of his kitchen.

It was all sparkly now. All it needed was an Ianto.

And Ianto was arriving very soon.

He knew the way easily enough, having been to Tony's place a few times before, so it didn't take him long to get there.

He was up the stairs soon enough and knocking on the door. The unusual thing was the fact he wasn't wearing any semblance of formal clothing, not a trace of his trademark suits. Instead, he was in a jeans and tee-shirt, carrying only the thermos of coffee with him.

Tony, who wore jeans and a tee-shirt every day, had changed into a less batter-smudged outfit before Ianto arrived. At the knock on the door he was up off the couch and releasing the wards that surrounded the apartment in a safe, red (only to wizard's eyes) glow.

And then he opened the door.

"Hey," he said with a smile, a little surprised to see Ianto without suit and tie today. "Come on in."

So of course, Ianto couldn't see any of that, and to his eyes, it would have all looked simply normal.

"Hullo," Ianto replied, walking in on Tony's request, returning the other man's smile with one of his own. No need to ask how Tony was, they'd already been through that, and he didn't really want to go through the 'I'm fine' thing again.

"Sit anywhere you want," Tony advised, noting the thermos in Ianto's hand. "I'll get the very clean mugs and...sugar? Cream?"

He waved Ianto into the living room and went to make up a tea tray in the kitchen. "You should wear jeans more often you know," he remarked casually. "They look good on you."

So Ianto did, sitting one end of the sofa and stretching out his long legs, smiling at Tony's comment of the mugs being 'very clean'.

"Only if you take it," he said, in regards to the cream and sugar, he much preferred his coffee black.

Tony's other comment, though, was unexpected. "Uh. Well. Thank you. I used to wear them all the time."

Tony slid two mugs off their hooks in the cupboard and set them on the tray, along with the sugar bowl.

He didn't really need to put any in his coffee, but spending the day as a fifteen year old a few days ago seemed to reinforce his old street habit of taking every chance at hoarding calories he came across.

He also cut into the cooled pan of mint bars, putting the chocolate treat on a chipped but clean plate next to the mugs. The bars didn't look exactly like the picture, resembling more of a messy brownie than the crisp contrast of chocolate and green mint filling that the recipe book had told him they'd look like. He hoped they tasted all right though.

"Why'd you stop?" he asked in regards to the jeans statement as he brought out the tray and set it on the coffee table.

The thermos was set on the coffee table too, and Ianto set about opening it to make the coffee once Tony got back.

He noticed the mint bars too, and figured that they were obviously what Tony had wanted him to try.

"Well, I had to wear suits for my job, you see. And at first I wore plain boring ones, but then I realised you can make them much more interesting with different coloured shirts and ties, and it sort of took off from there."

He didn't tell Tony that the suits had been a front at first, to keep everyone away from himself at first, and they they had become a part of who he was, because he didn't tell anyone that.

"I only have one suit," Tony confided. "Same one I wore for Mr. Styles and Mr. Brocklehurst's wedding. Never felt comfortable in them, really."

He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Then again, none of the jobs I've had ever required me to wear one. So I guess I'm lucky."

"Well, if you ever need a suit for some reason, come to me, I'm sure I'll find something flattering for you."

Hey, he wasn't a tailor's son for no reason, you know!

"Some people like them, some don't that's how it is." He shrugs. "Although I always wore casual things, I was around that kind of thing all the time as a child, so I was used to it."

He handed Tony's coffee over.

"You would have your work cut out for you," he joked, accepting his mug of coffee with a grateful smile. He spooned some sugar into his cup and took a long sip.

"Mmm..." Ianto really did make the best coffee. Tony waited for the man to pour his own cup and then waved a hand at the mint bars. "Please try one. And if it poisons you I'll make it up to you somehow."

He didn't think they tasted bad, but then again, he didn't think beef jerky topped with spray can cheese tasted that bad and Leah had looked at him like he was insane.

"Don't you know I thrive on hard work?" Ianto replied, smiling himself. Sure, he may not be a tailor himself - didn't have the qualifications - but he knew what he was doing. Considering he could tell a person what size clothing they were without even measuring them.

Accepting Tony's culinary efforts in exchange for his coffee, Ianto picked up one of the mint bars and bit into it, not really knowing what to expect.

He was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, and chewed thoughtfully. True, he ate his fair share of junk food, but he still liked proper food.

Tony thought Ianto looked like the type that probably worked harder than he should sometimes but it wasn't really his place to say such things. "I had an idea you did," he said instead, concealing his smile with another sip of coffee.

Then Ianto took a bar and bit into it and Tony could only wait anxiously for the verdict. Was this a cooking achievement or an utter bomb? It had taken his six tries at the batter before he could crack eggs without getting shell in it, and another three tries to get the right amount of mint extract in the filling.

And then of course he had burnt a few pans, but this one had been saved from the fires and he really hoped he'd gotten it this time.

He watched Ianto eat with large, pleading eyes. He hadn't spit it out yet. That was a good sign, right?

Maybe he did sometimes. It was how he was, though, and he wasn't sure he could change that.

He could see that Tony was awaiting verdict though, and using every ounce of his ability to keep a straight face, continued to chew thoughtfully. Which was a little bit mean, he knew, but was also a bit funny.

Eventually, when his mouth was clear - Ianto had manners - he let himself smile. "They're rather good, you know."

Tony let out the breath he was holding and grinned.

"You jerk," he laughed. "You were drawing it out on purpose."

Then his grin turned into an excited, boyish smile, one younger than his twenty-six years. "You really think they're good? Really?"

"Of course I was," Ianto said, grinning. Yes, he could be a little evil sometimes. It was fun.

Tony's boyish smile was infectious indeed, and seemed to be working quite well in cheering Ianto up.

"Yeah, they are. You've done really well," and to prove that he wasn't just saying it, he set about eating the rest of the mint bar.

"I hope Lee likes them too," Tony said, feeling somewhat proud of himself. "He said that his mother used to make him mint cookies, but the recipe for that looked a little harder..."

But he'd wanted to try making something for him after the poor guy had been stuck babysitting his punk teenaged ass.

Besides which, now he could brag to Victory that he really could cook.

And Tony should feel proud too, Ianto thought. For someone who wasn't experienced in cooking to pull off something like that, it was impressive. "I'm sure he'll love them," he said with a grin as he sipped at his coffee again.

"Are you two okay again?" he asked a little more seriously, recalling a conversation he'd had with Tony not too long ago.

The question caught Tony a little off-guard. He had to think about it.

"I think we're okay. The last little while..." He fumbled around for the words. "Being together's felt really nice."

Not that it hadn't been nice before, but they'd always seemed to be weighted down by something. His insecurities or Lee's confusion kept getting in the way.

Ianto nodded. "That's good. I'm glad you are." Because really, Ianto wanted all of his friends to be happy.

But he wasn't really used to talking about 'relationships' with people either, so he understood Tony's fumbling.

"We're both fine," Tony confirmed again with a nod, feeling more sure about it as he said the words.

"Kind of domestic bliss without the 'domestic' part."

Ianto waved a hand a little. "Domestic bliss can be nice, but it can be a little overrated, I think. You have to go with what's right for you."

Because yes, before Jack, he'd done the whole 'domestic bliss' thing with Lisa. And it had been nice, but nice isn't exciting.

"I think we're still figuring that out as we go along. Anything is better than fighting all the time."

That's true, nice isn't exciting. But if asked, Tony would venture that the vampires, demons, demongates, shadows, and boggarts in the sound stage were exciting enough to deal with on a daily basis. Every once in a while, he liked to relax.

Although Ianto was in a bit of a similar situation, with the Rift and weevils and the homicidal aliens - why were they always homicidal? Why couldn't the Rift throw out a nice alien or two? Ianto knew they existed - and strange alien artefacts to deal with, his life could definitely be described as exciting.

But then there were the days of drudgery, and they were more than enough for Ianto to stop Ianto craving for a quiet life, because he thrived on hard work. Which included Jack, sometimes.

"I'll agree with you there. It's awful and exhausting and upsetting, so I'm glad you're not fighting."

Edited 2008-07-06 18:26 (UTC)

Non-homicidal aliens probably had better things to do then get tossed through Rifts. Like, say, play Parcheesi or knit cardigans.

"Do you fight with Jack at all?" he asked, a bit curious of the "open" relationship. Did it mean no one ever got jealous or fought? Would that really work?

Probably. Just their luck.

He pondered the question a little. "Well, we fight about work, sometimes. Not very often though, and we had a bit of a fight when he threw my X-Box controller at my TV, but it's things like that. We've never really fought about ourselves, you know?"

"He threw your X-Box controller at your TV?" Tony repeated, lips quirking at the thought. "Instant banishment to the couch."

More seriously he said, "Lee and I fight mostly about my magic. He doesn't like when I use it, and he doesn't like the effects that come with it."

"Yeah, something about he was just to capture the enemy base and he got blasted at the last minute. He's a bit of a sore loser sometimes," even if Jack denied it, "so he's not allowed to play Call of Duty anymore."

Because Ianto liked his things to stay intact, thanks.

"Why, does it harm you or something when you do?"

Tony laughed a little at that. Thinking about Jack sulking at a video game was just a little too hilarious not to.

"Magic is just a fancy way of saying that I manipulate energies. In order to do it, I use up a lot of my own reserves," he admitted, ruefully. "If I use too much, I end up looking a little like a Holocaust survivor. S'why I eat so much and never really gain a lot of weight."

It hadn't been funny at the time, Ianto had been too annoyed about the fact his TV and controller had nearly been broken. Looking back now, though, it was.

"I can see why he'd get worried, then," Ianto mused, looking at the ceiling, "but what about when you use small amounts?"

[ooc: I am the idiot who forgets to click Post Comment before she closes a tab.]

"It depends on how often I use a spell, and what kind it is, and how good my health is already when I start. Some things, like calling objects to me, take hardly anything at all."

Tony demonstrated by using Come-To-Me on a spoon from the kitchen, feeling the slim metal thunk into his palm as soon as he reached for it. He used it to stir the sugar around at the bottom of his coffee cup, seeing as it had settle there waiting to give him hypoglycemia with his last sip.

"But if my immune system is already shot to hell," he continued, "even little spells can make me sick."

[ooc: Mici does that all the time. XD]

Ianto was impressed. Sure, he saw aliens doing weird and wonderful things all the time, but humans? Never.

"Sounds like something you really have to be careful with," Ianto mused, watching as Tony stirred his coffee thoughtfully.

"So, was it something you were born with? Or did you learn it?"

[ooc: I hope it won't become a new trend!]

Tony frowned, thinking of what Henry had said about the dead boy and the skull, the fact that he'd saw the mummy drain the life out of that baby when no one else had noticed, and how he'd been able to find Arra when she was trying her best to be invisible.

Even before Arra told him he could be a wizard he'd seen things. Maybe Henry was right and he'd been that way all along, he'd just hadn't understood what he was doing.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "I only learned that I could do magic in the past couple of years."

Which Ianto knew could mean Tony was born with it, or that he'd somehow picked it up along the way.

"Is that kind of thing common in your world then?" Ianto was one of the very few people from his world that knew aliens and other supernatural occurrences actually existed, and considering Tony knew what an X-Box was, he figured their world's might not be that different.

[ooc: ...you're making me want to read these books.]

"I think that depends on what you'd mean by common," Tony conceded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Before I met Henry, I didn't even know that vampires existed. Er, apart from the fake kind that have crummy syndicate television shows. Most people from my world have no idea that supernatural stuff exists."

[ooc: Mwuahaha.]

"It's a bit similar in our world," Ianto said, tapping his coffee mug, "although I don't know of any magic users, most of the population don't realise that there's a giant rift of space and time running through Cardiff."

He drained the last of his coffee, and continued. "People entertain the idea of aliens, but very few actually exist."

"A rift? That doesn't sound good." Tony thought of the gateway the Shadowlord had tried to come through to his world, and the tears in space that Ryne Cyratane's demons had made.

"You can't close it somehow?"

"I don't think it can be closed. It's our job to monitor it and try and minimise the damage it causes. And then clean up the fallout if we can't."

Which is of course the simplistic explanation.

"Sound messy," Tony said. And dangerous.

But since Ianto wasn't missing any limbs or, he assumed, internal organs it looked like he and the rest of his crew could handle it.

"Makes me glad that preventing the end of the world is only ten percent of my job." He grinned up at Ianto a little cheekily with that comment.

"It can be, sometimes. Especially the parasitic aliens, they like to make things gory." They really did. Ianto wasn't going to forget the mayfly exploding out of a man's stomach any time soon.

He's grinning back though. "You wouldn't believe how much paperwork is involved in preventing the end of the world."

Log; In Progress

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject