We All Fall Down (cont. Attn: Yantoe...)

After a slightly damp 15 minute walk they arrived, a small old looking house at the edge of a row of warehouses, with a small front garden, full of weeds, and a cracked paving slab path. As soon as he reached the garden path he dropped Beau's lead.

"Trust me it's safer this way..." Pretty much as soon as he'd said this about 6 cats split in different directions, Beau seemed at a loss of what to do, before chasing a big ginger one. He sort of growled as he ran round the corner, followed by a loud thud. "He hit the fence... again." he shook his head and carried on up the garden, a slightly dazed looking Beau trotted proudly round the corner.

He opened the front door, the house was split in two, upstairs and down, with a Red Motorbike parked in the front hall, he quickly glanced over it before leading the way upstairs, yanking Beau away from the various cats on the stairs. "They." he pointed at them. "Are not mine." He shoved Beau's head into the door at the top, squishing him into obedience. "Crazy cat lady downstairs" he whispered loudly.

He opened the door and stepped in, closing the door quickly behind Ianto.

"By the way. It's a shit hole. Make yourself at home. I'm gonna change out of... yeah." He disappeared into the only other room except for this main one, assumed to be the bathroom perhaps. The small flat smelt of damp, had a single unmade bed at one end under a window, a dog bed, bowls, toys, and several blankets scattered round, some draws and a mirror, the other had a small kitchenette and a sofa and TV, a few windows looking over the warehouses were scattered around.

"I'll be out in a minute." He came out walking over to the draws, stuffing a few things he'd gathered on the way other in and taking some clothes out. Despite this little amount of cleaning it was still a tip.

Ianto didn't speak for most of the walk, and merely chuckled at Beau's attempt to hunt the ginger cat down. Truth be told, he was slightly alarmed at the amount of cats Ross seemed to have, but that thought was dismissed once the private explained about the crazy cat lady downstairs.

"Huh. For a minute there, you had me thinking you were the crazy cat lady..." Ianto joked, unsure whether Ross could hear him in the other room. He decided to just lean onto the wall and stand there, waiting.

"No, can't stand the bastards. They piss, they shit, they sleep, they cost you money." His disgust echoed round the bathroom. He walked out in jeans, and the scrub top, hanging his uniform and sling on a rail which separated the bed from the rest of the flat, an old curtain pinned to the wall.

Facing away from Ianto he pulled the top off, and deliberately walked away from the mirror as he grabbed a tee-shirt off the bed. He put the new shirt on with a grunt. Grabbing his wallet out his uniform pocket and shoving on some sneakers. "Where you wanna go then?" He asked with a sly grin, running his hand through his hair, and grabbing a jacket off the door to the bathroom. Beau had made himself at home on the bed, Ross walked over scratched his ears and took the lead off. "Oh and walking or bike?" He grinned at Ianto.

"Fair enough." Ianto said, petting Beau as the doberman passed by.
He watched as Ross did his changing, although he probably shouldn't have. Then again, if the soldier didn't want him to look, he'd have changed in the bathroom.

He rubbed his eyes and left side of his face and sighed, looking back at Ross upon his question of where to go next. Ianto didn't know. Ianto was starving, but perhaps because of that, he wasn't even thinking straight anymore.

"Oh and walking or bike?"

"Bike..." Ianto muttered, right then thinking he'd sound too eager. "I mean...Are you sure you're supposed to be riding a bike?" He asked, a smile ready at the corner of his mouth.

"I mean...Are you sure you're supposed to be riding a bike?"

"Technically not." he grinned. "Not gonna stop me." He winked at Ianto, grabbing two helmets from on top of the drawers. Both matched the red of the bike downstairs. "Unless you wanna be in control that is.." He gave Ianto a sly wink, turning the light in the bathroom off.

Oh, well, of course, what could possibly go wrong? Another set of blown stitches, nothing major. Ianto shook his head, but smiled anyway. He watched as Ross got two helmets, and sighed.

"Unless you wanna be in control that is.."

Ah, Ianto thought, perhaps Ross was just as bad as he was. He smirked, and then winked.

"Not right now..." He made his way to the door, looking behind himself, waiting for Ross. "You coming?"

He smiled at Ianto.

"You coming?"

He passed by Ianto, handing him a helmet and locking the door behind him. "Of course." He took it slow down the steps, based on the risk of tripping on a cat. That lady had issues. Big issues.

He unchained the bike and rolled it outside, releasing the clutch. Resting it for a moment on the road while he pushed his helmet on. "Hop on."

He sat astride it, revving the engine up and kicking the support bar away.

Ianto held the helmet and stood there staring at the bike for far longer than he should've, if he wanted to be perceived as a sane man. Of course he knew how to ride shotgun on a bike, that wasn't the issue. It was...well, technicalities.

He hopped on eventually, but still didn't know where to put his hands. Were there some kind of handle behind him, he'd be settled, but alas, there wasn't.

He watched patiently for Ianto to settle down, feeling a distinct lack of hand pressure on him he turned his head to Ianto, flipping the visor up, blaming the blush on the reflection of the helmet.

"Would you mind holding on... a little lower down then normal... by shoulder is a bit tender still..."

Lower than normal. Ianto smirked, and nodded, putting his helmet on.

He took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Ross' waist, awkwardly so, as low as he could without touching anything he wasn't supposed to. Ianto relaxed a bit, but not completely.

He could see that smirk, couldn't help but grinning under his own helmet. He kicked off contemplating how weird it was to have someone bigger then him on the back. He was used to girls on the back of this, it was unusual but not entirely unpleasant. As soon as he was away from the flat he let the bike rip, doing a small wheelie as he hit the main road, on accident of course , the roads weren't too busy and it was easy to dodge the traffic. He pulled up in a busy square, filled with restaurants. He lifted his visor.

"I haven't really been out much here, point me the right way.." He hoped it was driving distance, he'd become quite comfortable with the taller man resting round his waist.

The wind was chilling his entire body, and Ianto inadvertedly held onto Ross tighter because of it. Ross was a great biker, which helped Ianto relax, it felt good, the speed. As Ross pulled up, Ianto focused on the noise coming from the bike.

"I haven't really been out much here, point me the right way.."

"Italian" Ianto said, pointing ahead. "Follow down this strip, turn left, then left again." In truth, the italian restaurant was just around the corner, but it was reachable from the other side, and it wouldn't hurt to ride a bit more...and still get to eat their wonderful pasta.

He listened as Ianto gave the instructions. Nodding after each one.

"Local Knowledge. I like." He smiled, clipping the visor back down and letting the wheel spin a little before setting off. He went in a little calmer round the last corner, seeing the restaurant Ianto had directed him too pulled into a space, kicking the stand down and turning the engine off. He removed his helmet, tussling his hair out with his hand.

"Not a bad ride eh?" He said with a grin, flexing his shoulder gently.

Ianto mimicked Ross' moves as the bike came to a stop near the italian. He felt way too overdressed, not having changed from work. He supposed it didn't matter.

"Not a bad ride eh?"

"Not at all, quite the contrary." Ianto smirked. "And how's the shoulder?" He might as well ask, stubborn as Ross was, the last thing Ianto wanted was another painful incident. He made way towards the restaurant slowly.

He grinned at Ianto's response.

"And how's the shoulder?"

"Fine, just been a while since I've done that." he smiled, chaining the bike up with a quick pat on the tank and following Ianto in.

Ianto reached the restaurant reception and a nice young woman came to greet him.

"Good evening, sir." She greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, table for two, please?" Ianto knew the staff in passing already, he'd go there to eat or pick up take away quite often. The young woman nodded and began leading the way. Ianto looked behind him to see if Ross was following.

"Thank you." He said to the woman once they reached their table. She left them with the menus, and left, nodding.

He smiled as Ianto looked at him, taking a step after him.

He watched Ianto and the waitress interact, taking a seat "thanks" he muttered as she put the menus down, taking up his own menu he scanned it briefly before setting it down.

"What would you suggest to eat Mr Jones?" He said in a joking tone. "Baring in mind I've been living on a calorie counted, fat free, organic, no sugar, no additives, rabbit food diet for the past four weeks. I'd like to see this as my liberation from it." He grinned slyly across the table at Ianto.

The waitress came back to take their drinks order. "Could I have a pint of Diet Coke please." He couldn't help but sound a little formal, it was just the way he lived.

Ianto checked the menu as well, although he knew fairly well what they served, but he did want to suggest something good for Ross that wasn't completely different from his diet. He interrupted the search to order a glass of iced tea, and then resumed. Not long after, he found a dish called "La Penne Sienna", and read its description out loud.

"Penne pasta with chicken, onion, mushrooms and peppers in a white wine and cream sauce. What do you think?" He asked, smiling pleasantly.

He watched the way Ianto's eyes flicked across the paper, the practiced ease of the drinks order, the way he smiled, and it lit up his face, he found himself listening carefully to the way he spoke, the little relish in the Italian accent he had adopted for the dishes name, the way the Welsh vowels sounded through, the way his eyes caught the light. He licked his lips.

/Stop it. Grannies in bikinis. He's another man. You. Can't. Fancy. A. Man. No matter how pretty his eyes are, or his nice arse. STOP IT. Bikinis and Grannies, nude sunbathing grannies\

He internally fought with himself, fighting the urge to watch Ianto like some time of stalker.

"Sounds like real food." he grinned. Trying to be casual, trying to fight the blush. "Real food is good. I'll have it.."

Ianto caught Ross' eyes just as he looked quite embarrassed about something, but Ianto had no idea what.
He hadn't done anything embarrassing, not that Ianto had noticed. He decided to shrug it off, would probably be the hunger playing tricks on him.
He lingered on the soldier's face, though, for a bit, expecting him to yay or nay Ianto's suggestion. Beautiful lips, Ross had.
Great jawline. Eyes like torches, too, like they had fire behind all that blue.

"Real food is good. I'll have it.."

"Alright, then, I'm glad." Ianto finally answered once he snapped out of it. He'd chosen what he was having a while ago, therefore he lifted up his hand, smiling at the waitress.
She came to their table right away, and Ianto placed their order. "The Penne Sienna, and the Farfalle al Salmone. For starters, I guess we'll have the Bruschetta." The waitress nodded, and left, as Ianto turned to Ross again.

"I hope you don't mind I ordered the appetizers already. It's just toasted bread with tomato, basil and olive oil, it's quite good, and has a lot of flavour. You might appreciate it, since you've been on a rabbit diet lately." He said, with a compassionate smile.

He couldn't keep his thoughts on the grannies, as they quickly changed to Ianto, and a blush crept up his neck and across his checks. He zoned back in again to hear Ianto.

"I hope you don't mind I ordered the appetizers already. It's just toasted bread with tomato, basil and olive oil, it's quite good, and has a lot of flavour. You might appreciate it, since you've been on a rabbit diet lately."

"I love them things, we used to get them on base." He grinned broadly back, leaning back on his chair. "Diets suck. Big time." He supposed he had more important things connected with the damn diet to worry about, but at this moment in time he wanted to stay far away from those memories and just focus on the beautiful man before him. Damn he sucked at stopping his mind wondering...

Ross was blushing. That was mildly amusing, and very, very cute. Ianto couldn't help but smile, letting a hint of care show through his eyes. Of course, he had no clue why Ross was blushing. Maybe he liked the waitress...Maybe not.

Ianto sighed in relief when Ross said he loved the appetizers - he'd been worried the private would think Ianto was too controlling. Ross was as beautiful when he grinned, as he was when he frowned. Ianto couldn't make up his mind as to which he liked best. He supposed he liked everything.

"I know, it's almost a crime, so many good things out there to enjoy, and not being able to..." He said, looking away at nothing in particular.

"I know, it's almost a crime, so many good things out there to enjoy, and not being able to..."

"Yeah, so many beautiful things that we put off limits." He mentally stabbed himself for that, normal people didn't call food Beautiful, sometimes he wondered why someone didn't just shoot him and put him out of his misery, oh wait, they liked dumb Privates, easier to push around.

He was looking at Ianto's face again, he tore himself away as the drinks arrived. He looked deep into his Coke, wishing for something a little stronger. /Maybe if I drown myself in there no one will notice.\ He took a sip. /Won't work. Your nose is too big.\ He sighed under his breath, /you really have got to stop thinking so negatively. And make small talk.\

"Come here often?" He said softly. /Then learn how to make DECENT small talk. And think about a nose job. Drowning is a quick way of getting out of these things. And stop conversing with yourself in your head\ He was frowning weirdly now, snapping out of it and looking up at Ianto. God why was he so nervous around this man. He was like a bloody schoolgirl. Or what he imagined one would be like in this sort of situation.

Was Ross really referring to the food as beautiful, or was he talking about something else? Ianto wondered, lost in his blue eyes, thinking maybe he ought to stop this, the private would find it weird that some bloke kept staring into his eyes...and possibly punch him the face. Or perhaps not, who knew, people could surprise you every day.

"I find it's more pleasant living without putting anything off-limits." Ianto commented, thinking maybe this had been a tad too obvious.

"Come here often?"

Oh, well, enough with the innuendo, let's talk. Ianto liked that. He nodded.

"Yeah, whenever I can, their food is fantastic." He said, smiling.

He liked Ianto's eyes, he liked them a lot. And he really had to stop looking into them. He couldn't imagine how awkward it must feel to have a guy, a guy you've just met, a guy you've just met with a deformed chest staring into your big blues.

"I find it's more pleasant living without putting anything off-limits."

"Haven't really lived like that myself."

It was true, in both innuendo and innocent straight talk, he'd lived all his life by orders, rules, regulations and schedules. Hadn't really had a chance to explore the world or people around him. Yeah he would admit some guys were good looking, but he hadn't actually thought about one quite as explicitly as his mind was tending to wonder towards.

"I'm holding you to that one you know, first time eating out in Cardiff, and I have high expectations now." he grinned at Ianto, trying very hard to remove those dirty little thoughts from his head.