| Date: 21 December 2007
Characters: Ianto Jones, Susan Foreman Location: hotel dining room Link to IJ: thread #16159 |
 He'd gone home; well. To the hub at least, walking right back into his office to see an instant message on his hub system from Jack, double checking he was coming down, and the same date on the computer- same time even- as it had been when he left.
He went down. He played chess with Jack, then had sex on Jack's desk. Time had gone by. Eugene. John and Diane and Emma. He woke up the morning after John had died in Jack's bed; they hadn't fucked, he just had been a warm body next to Jack, to make up for the cold one he'd died beside in Ianto's car. He walked through the door of the kitchen to get coffee in just his boxers and undershirt and ended up back in the hotel with a sigh and an understanding of how Lane had felt. "Must be Monday." |
 "I think it's Friday, actually," Susan said in a bright and friendly voice, undisturbed by the sudden appearance of a stranger not more than a few feet from where she was sitting. "It's hard to tell when days don't seem to change properly." |
| "Fridays usually go better for me," he said wryly, flushing slightly and crossing his arms over his chest, "Hullo." |
| "Hi!" Susan declared, raising a hand and waving before motioning to the table in front of her. "Tea?" She asked, indicating the pot and cups that were sitting in front of her. |
| He blinked, then sat because hey, why not. "I'm Ianto." |
| "I'm Susan," Susan said with a welcoming smile as she poured Ianto a cup of tea. "I'm going to guess that this isn't your first time here." |
| "No, though I'd gone home for a bit. How long have you been here," He took the tea with a grateful murmur of thanks. |
| "A week or so," Susan said, setting the teapot back down as she picked up her own cup. "Where's home, then?" She asked, glancing back toward the door that he'd come through. "I haven't been able to find an exit back to where I'm from." |
| "I don't think the exits are always there," he shook his head, "I'm from Cardiff. What about you?" |
| "We'd just moved out into the country," Susan said, raising a hand to run through her hair. "Wiltshire, I think it was." |
| "You don't know where you moved?" Ianto teased lightly. |
| Susan blushed slightly, "David picked out the area. And I've never actually lived outside of London until then," She said, adding mentally to herself when I was on Earth. |
| "Who's David?" |
| "My fiance," Susan said with a soft smile. "A former resistance fighter turned farmer." |
| "Where's he from?" Ianto smiled, thinking of asylum seekers. |
| "London," Susan said, smiling as she added, "22nd century," before she took a sip of her tea. |
| "...Twenty-second?" Ianto said after a moment, staring at her like she was new. |
| "22nd," Susan said with a smile and a nod. "Let me guess... You're from the 20th? 21st? Both very nice eras. Much better in some places than the 22nd century barely a year after several years of Dalek occupation." |
| "21st. You moved around?" |
| "Quite a bit," Susan said, smiling softly. "I lived with my Grandfather when I was younger. He never did like to stay in one place very long, if he could help it." |
| "Where are you from originally?" |
| "It's...complicated," Susan said after a moment, smiling a bit at Ianto over her teacup. "I suppose... Well, the closest correspondence with Earth time with where I'm from when be the 49th century," Susan said. "But when you're from a race of time travelers, centuries are negligible. I'm from Gallifrey. I'd say you probably haven't heard of it. But last time I said that to someone, I was wrong." |
| "I've not heard of it," he shook his head. "Do you miss it?" |
| "Quite a bit," Susan said, smiling softly to herself. "It's a beautiful planet. Two suns, burnt orange skies, so many different types of flora and fauna." |
| "How long since you've been there?" |
| "Six years," Susan said with a soft sigh. "I always wanted to go back, but I just...never got the chance." |
| "Maybe from here." |
| "Is that possible?" Susan asked, tilting her head at Ianto curiously. "I mean, I know people have gone home...from wherever they showed up from. But I was on Earth when I came here. Wouldn't I have to go back to Earth?" |
| "Maybe. Maybe not," he shrugged, "I don't know." |
| "I suppose I'll find out if it is," Susan said, smiling at Ianto as she settled her teacup down and filled it back up. "So, what do you do?" |
| "I work for the tourism office," he said easily. "It's not glamorous, but I enjoy it." |