milliways_bar | (no subject)

Ianto is noticed. Though Lorne would understand if he wanted to be alone.

He makes his way over to Ianto's table, wondering if he should bring a beer or something, but he has no idea what Ianto drinks or if he'll be wanting to drink.

"Hey," he says, softly.

Ianto looks up and gives the friendliest smile he can manage. "Hey."

"Mind if I...?" He gestures to the seat across from Ianto.

"Of course. Make yourself comfortable." He gathers up the papers he's been failing to read and stacks them into his satchel, and moves his mostly-untouched plate out of his way. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad," Lorne says, shrugging. He's not sure what went down between Ianto and John, and he doesn't want to just come right out and ask.

So he settles for, "How 'bout you?"

Ianto makes it easy: "Broke up with my boyfriend. So that drawing I asked you about--I won't need it anymore."

Lorne nods. "You want to talk about it?"

Ianto sips his coffee. Food goes untouched but coffee is forever. "I don't know what to say, really. I thought we were doing fine and then suddenly it's choose, right now."

Lorne nods again. "Nothing happened between you that might have made him think he had to push you?"

"I asked him to dance with me."

Lorne frowns. "Hardly a frightening prospect."

"Yeah." Another sip. "And then he asked me to lie to him. Say I was his. And I said I am, and he . . ." He looks away. "Didn't believe me.

"Probably right of him not to."

"Sounds like he was thinking of this before you asked him to dance, then."

Ianto fidgets with his cup. "I'm sure he was.

"There's somebody else, you see. At home. My home. But he knew that, I told him about that from the beginning, and he said it was okay. And I just . . . I just wanted to see where we'd go. John and I, I mean. I was just starting to feel like we could be serious and then he goes and does this."

Lorne thinks about this for a moment. "He said it was okay? Was that...before things started to get serious?"

"Yeah. Long before. And to be honest, when I told him I wanted to give us a go I didn't even think about Jack that much--not that way, anyway." He smiles wryly. "While John seems convinced he occupies my every waking thought."

"Well," Lorne says cautiously after a moment's pause. "He seems to occupy enough that when John asked you to choose, you didn't pick John."

It's not an accusation. More an attempt to get Ianto to ask himself if he really wanted to be with John or if things are maybe better this way.

More sipping.

It's a long sip.

"No, I didn't." Quietly. "I don't love him, Major."

"Do you love Jack?"

He's out of coffee to use as a distraction, and fidgets with the cup some more.

"I don't know. I don't hate him."

"Well that's...useful," Lorne says. "I think if you did hate him, you'd have some serious problems to work out."

"It's complicated," Ianto says, rolling his eyes a little.

Sometimes he's very young.

"We've had some shit to work through."

"And there's the whole boss/non-monogamous thing still, I'm guessing," Lorne says, recalling their earlier conversation about just this conundrum.

"Exactly. I'm back where I started."

Lorne, it should be noted, is not a relationship expert. He's happy now, but he's had some pretty spectacularly badly handled break-ups in his life, and he's got his share of issues.

On the other hand, he does like to do what he can to help his friends.

"So let me ask you this," he says. "Do you think you'll ever meet someone you'll pick over Jack?"