Ianto had been sitting at his desk in the tourist office, doing next to nothing. He had actual work that he could be doing down in the archives, but then he'd have to make it all the way up from there to the tourist office and then out onto the Plass, and really he couldn't be bothered with making that much smalltalk with the man, considering he'd never even spoken in person to him yet
( ... )
John smiled briefly at the fact that the other man actually managed to remember his name, which caused a pretty twenty-something woman to smile back at him awkwardly as she passed. Yes, right. John turned away with an uncomfortable shrug.
"Right, yeah. Got it in one. So," John decided to blunder on, being that there really was no other way to do this, and he didn't want to be stuck making too much small talk, "I'm by the fountain. This hopping thing - it's a bit quicker than leaving from Paddington. Sorry that I didn't give you much warning." Unlike Ianto, John wasn't toning down a thing; for one, he wasn't alert enough to think to do it, and for two, well. Really wasn't a reason for him to tone down a thing, was there?
"Right," Ianto said, exiting the tourist office, "by the fountain. I...realize that we've never spoken on the phone before. Or met in person, so. I suppose looking for a man on the phone by the fountain should be easy enough to do, though," Ianto said. He realized he was rambling. He tended to do that when he was uncomfortable, and well. From what he read, he'd been pretty obnoxious the night before, of course he'd feel uncomfortable about it.
"You...you live in Paddington?" Ianto asked, trying to make conversation as he made his way up the stairs and across the way to the Plass, through all the midday pedestrian bustle. "I used to live not too far from there. In the Tower Hamlets. By Canary Wharf, really. On the Isle of Dogs." He hoped that he was making sense and not being too awkward about it. It'd been 5 years since he'd been there, after all, 5 years since Torchwood London and all of that.
John was very good at dealing with awkwardness, surprisingly. "I could describe myself, if you'd like," he said easily, crossing his arms over his chest, shifting his phone to his other ear. "And no - Paddington has the easiest station to get to from my flat with trains out to Cardiff. I know where that is, though," he added, "I've gotten pretty knowledgeable about London since-" Moving in with Sherlock, but that didn't sound exactly right, so, "-Working with my flatmate." Not much better, but it would do. The last thing he needed was more people thinking he was gay for Sherlock.
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"Right, yeah. Got it in one. So," John decided to blunder on, being that there really was no other way to do this, and he didn't want to be stuck making too much small talk, "I'm by the fountain. This hopping thing - it's a bit quicker than leaving from Paddington. Sorry that I didn't give you much warning." Unlike Ianto, John wasn't toning down a thing; for one, he wasn't alert enough to think to do it, and for two, well. Really wasn't a reason for him to tone down a thing, was there?
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"You...you live in Paddington?" Ianto asked, trying to make conversation as he made his way up the stairs and across the way to the Plass, through all the midday pedestrian bustle. "I used to live not too far from there. In the Tower Hamlets. By Canary Wharf, really. On the Isle of Dogs." He hoped that he was making sense and not being too awkward about it. It'd been 5 years since he'd been there, after all, 5 years since Torchwood London and all of that.
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