Under the Darkness (continuation by Avery and SPH)

Ira's eyes widened and he didn't know where to look anymore. "O-o-oh," he managed to choke out and then reached for the door handle. He hadn't met someone who even thought about the same sex in that way for the past couple of years. It just seemed like everyone he knew hated people who had those thoughts and urges. And now he knew he wasn't alone. He slowly got out of the car and motioned for James to get out. They were at the par, after all.

James continue to laugh as he got out of the car and began to take in a fresh breath of air. Despite how dirty and smoggy it can be sometimes in the downtown district where James lived, the park's air was always fresh and clean. To James at least. He then began to walk towards a bench nearby that was sitting into of the first lake in the park (which so happened to be the biggest one in the park as well.) He sat down and let his head lean back as he felt the cool breeze blow. "Ahhh, I love this area of the park." he mumbled softly, loud enough so that Ira could hear but soft enough that it could've been taken that he was talking to himself.

Ira looked around the park, nearly in awe of how serene everything was. Back in the city, he never got a moment of peace or got to see a place as clean and quiet as this. It was always horrible, horrible noise and pollution. He took a deep breath and followed after James, then took the place on the opposite side of the bench he sat at. He ran his fingers through his hair gently and then looked out across the water, biting his lip.

James let his head roll over to look at Ira and he smirked, feeling much more at ease with Ira now. It just seemed like they were taking things too seriously, and James just thought that they should just let things go they way they're suppose to go. They don't have to be in a rush for a friendship, or even have to go to slow. They just need to know one another. And James was interested in knowing more about Ira. "What's your favorite color, Ira?" he chuckled, knowing how silly the question was.

Ira smiles very slightly. "I like silver and purple... And peach," he said, like it might have been a second thought to tack it on at the end. But it was true. He did like peach... Then, he realized, scanning over James' face, that his lips matched that color. Ira's eyes locked on James and his smile grew just a bit more. "What about you? What color do you like the best?"

"Oh, I would guess I like red. I can relate to it I guess." James smirk grew a little bigger, "Do you know that some people associate colors with feelings?" He then chuckled at the random fact of the day he just gave Ira, "Yup, don't know why but I'm not complaining."

Ira's smile grew a bit wider, and he looked back out onto the water, his eyes gliding along the glassy surface. He wished there was a bit of wind to break the look of dark glass that the lake had. To be honest, it frightened Ira. He had been scared of water since he was younger and he was always so embarrassed to explain to people. "So... What do you like to do?" He asked, looking back at James with a smaller smile.

James had lost his grin for a moment, only to be reunited with it once more when Ira had seemed to open up to James a little more. "I guess I like to do some guy stuff," he replied, trying to think of what he meant by "guy stuff." "like playing video games and...sometimes hunting. My dad and I normally did that when I lived in North Carolina though." James sighed as he stared back out to the scenery in front of him, reminiscing about his deceased father. "My old man knew how to hunt anything, yet I could just never get the handle of it. He said I couldn't aim a gun if my life depended on it." His smile began to fade again, "What about you?"

Ira had to think this over for a moment. He didn't really do anything since he had started staying cooped up in his house. "Well, I don't really know," he admitted. "I haven't been out to do a lot of stuff since I left my parents." Left. He wished it was as simple. He wished it had just been him leaving instead of being tossed out like spoiled food. "I used to be into photography for a while, but I guess I just fell out of it. And I like to cook."

"Cooking, sounds awesome." James looked back at Ira, his eyes hitting Ira's lips then quickly traveling up to Ira's eyes. Those two parts of Ira's body were what fascinated James the most. "I don't like cooking at all, half of my meals are just T.V. dinners." he thought about how he hadn't eaten a home-cooked meal in ages. Not since he moved here, at least. Maybe he had one or two when he was visiting a friend or a past girlfriend/boyfriend, but not on a regular basis. "So do you go to college?"

Ira nodded slightly. "Well, I do online. I don't know if I could handle being with people for that long," he said softly. He didn't want to feel, as he quite clearly remembered, but James was turning out to be a rule breaker. He didn't know how James had gotten close enough to make these horrible emotions pop back up, either, but as much as he was complaining, he kind of liked it. "And... If you want, you can stop by my house some time and I'll cook for you."

James chuckled at the offer, not because he didn't want to, but because he never thought Ira would ever ask! Then again, he never thought Ira would be this talkative from when he met them yesterday. But their relationship seemed to be breaking all the rules. "That's sound good, I'd love that."

Ira smiled at his hands and then back at James. "You know... I'm kind of glad you stopped me on the street yesterday," he started. "This is weird... But I kind of like it. I haven't been out of my house with someone in who knows how long. So... erm... Thanks," he said, his cheeks turning a light pink color and his eyes lighting slightly.

James grinned at Ira and felt his stomach begin to flutter. "You're welcome. I'm glad you didn't whack me on the head and ran off thinking I was trying to rob you." he replied, chuckling as he made the situation a little more humorous.

Ira had completely forgot this possibility. He really had forgot about crime all together. "Well, you didn't give me reason to suspect you were going to. I mean... Robbers don't usually stare at the people they're going to rob... Do they?" He asked, smiling just a little. He had noticed that James stared at him a lot, and he wondered why. Was it a friend thing, like eye contact?

((Replies are going to be slow. I'm at school!))

James chuckled at the joke Ira had made, continuing to stare at the boy. "Yeah, unless they're psychos. Then maybe they would." He knew that the joke was not as funny as Ira's but he didn't care. He didn't care much as of late. He always seemed to be in a contempt mood since he met Ira. "Besides, you can never know who's dangerous on this city."

Ira smiles and looked forward at the lake again. He wasn't sure what else to say, so instead, he stayed quiet. He like that it wasn't awkward, really, between himself and James. He liked being able to sit in silence when talking wasn't necessary. He looked at James again and his smile softened a bit then looked down to him hands out of embarrassment.

James let out a relaxed sigh and stared out to the lake with Ira, enjoying the silence for a moment. He was glad that the awkwardness wasn't there, at least not anymore for him. But of course James was getting restless, so he picked up a pebble that was sitting on the ground beside them and threw it out in the lake. He had originally hoped that it would skip across, similar how he wanted to skip on relationships he had with others. Unfortunately it sank into the lake, barely making a splash at all. He still didn't say anything afterwards, he just chuckled at his failed attempt to look cool and stared up at the sky.

Ira felt a small laugh bubble up, but he didn't let it go, because he wasn't sure if he would hurt James' feelings over it. He never knew what could set people off, so he never really did anything. He looked over at James and smiled a bit. "Do you want to grab something to eat?" He asked, cocking his head slightly. They had been here for a while and maybe it was lack of better things to do, but Ira thought having lunch might be a good idea.

James nodded, "That sounds good. Let's go." He then got up and led Ira to his car, thinking about opening the door for Ira but he was a little wary. James got into the car and waited for Ira to jump in. "Do you have anywhere you wanna go in particular?"

Ira shook his head. "I haven't really explored much, so I feel like you'd know better than I would where to eat," he smiled softly as he got into the car. Something about hanging around James made him self conscious about his previous relationship. He didn't quite understand why, but it was there, nagging him.

James understood and knew just the place to go to grab lunch. "Alright, got an idea." He then started the car and began driving towards a simple diner. Though it looked like a regular place to eat, James knew from going there with friends multiple times that it was a good place to go.

Ira nodded and watched out his window, finger tracing lightly over his bottom lip as buildings passed. He didn't really know what he was expecting. Something simple, he hoped. Something fancy and he might just lose his head. Fancy place always made assumptions, mostly because it was always couples that went there. Not like Ira didn't ever want to go to a fancy place with someone one day, but he was jus-- He was too caught up in his own though to even process the buildings anymore. That was just a habit that needed to stop.

When they had arrived at the simple diner, James turned off the car and got out of the car. He started walking inside, hoping Ira would follow, and opened the entrance door for himself and Ira.

Ira quickly got out of the car, following after James with his stomach in his shoes. No, it wasn't a fancy place, but there were normal people here. Where fancy people were assuming, normal people always seemed so much more judgmental. Ira didn't know if he could handle it, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and they found a booth to sit at.