Under the Darkness (continuation by Avery and SPH)

Ira nodded, looking up from his coffee for a moment. "Yeah, sure. What would you like to know?" He asked, cocking his head slightly. He took another drink and swirled the cup, hearing the slight scratch of sugar on the bottom. James seems like a nice enough boy, so Ira was willing to talk to him for a bit longer.

"Exactly how old are you?" James asked, feeling awkward doing so. He really did feel like he was being rude, or at least weird in asking that. But he wanted to know, because he was curious. "I mean, you just look young to me, like a teenager I guess." Finally James felt so embarrassed at what he said he countered it with: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to offend."

Ira raised a slim eyebrow, blue eyes growing brighter. "Nineteen," he said, nodding. Did he really look younger? Well, probably. That had been one of the many things that got him in trouble back at home. He'd constantly get into fights with people his age and be scolded like a small child, though he wasn't. That was also the reason why he din't go after anyone. Well, that and he was vile. He didn't blame anyone for ignoring him.

James nodded and kept his eyes down and away from Ira; he was feeling embarrassed and stupid. That was one thing that he didn't want to be around Ira, at least at that moment. He didn't really know where to go from that, he felt like he was really bothersome. He didn't know whether or not to leave Ira right now and continue his life or try and salvage something from this. James didn't want to leave Ira. He turned his head to the side, looking outside to see the people walking across the streets. Who would've thought James would have picked this boy to bump into today? "I see..." James rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his, "...you should probably get going now. I'm sorry for what happened. I-I didn't mean for it to be..."

"You didn't tell me how old you are..." Ira started. "Or is that confidential or something?" He asked. He wanted to know about James, even if he felt all the bad emotions that came with socializing with other people. Especially boys that he might be attracted to. But he couldn't. That was disgusting. And he was thinking about how little he should really care what his parents think. "And... We should exchange numbers... I liked talking to you today."

James smirked and let out a nervous sigh/chuckle. "I'm twenty-two;" he replied, he was glad that Ira seemed okay with all this. Though wondered why he was okay with all this as well. It should've been obvious, however, that it was just the simple fact that he liked and was attracted to Ira. Of course it was nothing more than a simple shallow attraction, but their conversation helped James realized that Ira could at least be a reliable friend. Also he was worthy of James' number. So James searched in his pocket for a pen and scribbled his number on a piece of napkin paper. "here, that's my personal cell. I don't get many calls on that one, but I don't think you're really a work-related friend."

Ira blushed just a little, unsure of what this new emotion was as he looked down and laughed softly. "Thanks," he said, softly and stuck the number into his pocket. Something about feeling the paper securely in his pocket sent a little thrill through him, though it was quickly overwhelmed by self-loathing. "But you're right... I should be going," he nodded and stood. "Thank you for the coffee," he said, nodding.

James smiled at Ira and raise his hand to give Ira a small wave, "It was nice meeting you." James then got up and shove on of his hands deep into his pocket, a habit he assumed he got from meeting Ira. Since Ira seemed to shove his hands in every and any kind of pocket that was on his clothes. "See you soon?"

((Time jump?))

((Sure. To when? Next morning or when they're at home?))

((Hm, I don't know. What do you want to do? I kinda have a idea about when they're at home for a sec, then we can time jump to the next morning. But whatever is good for you!))

((Yeah, that sounds fine.))

Ira managed to get back to his house in one piece and set his phone down on the coffee table. He changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shit and sprawled out on his couch, looking over an old magazine. He couldn't even remember why he still had it. Probably something stupid. That was the only reason he ever did stuff.

James headed to his original task which was to have a meeting with the Resistance leaders. He knew that he would be late and would have to apologize, but he was sure that Peter would let this one slide. Luckily, he did and James was on his way home. He had a rather small apartment, with almost every room smashed into one besides the bedroom and bathroom. He took off his coat and sat down by the breakfast table and turned on his T.V., his mind wandering back on his encounter with Ira. James began to daydream about how soft his complexion and features were, how bright and fun his eyes were when he let himself have emotions. Most of all, he dreamed about how soft and delicate those lips were, and when they formed a smile...James could barely bring himself to stop thinking of those thoughts.

Ira fell asleep quite soon after he got finished reading the magazine and curled onto the couch with a thin blanket. When he woke up, he groaned softly and rubbed his eyes, looking around. He looked at his phone. No missed calls. No missed messages. He wasn't surprised in the least, though. He wasn't expecting anyone to call or anything, but he did that every morning.

When James fell asleep in his bed, his mind was riddle with dreams and nightmares about past memories, present memories, and even possible memories. Though this was typical of James' nights. Luckily though it didn't bother him too much so when he woke up all he had to do was take a nice long shower. When he was done he checked his work phone for the usual thousands of calls he had missed. Then he checked his personal; nothing either. He felt a slight heaviness in his chest, but then again he couldn't blame Ira. The boy probably just went home and slept; who wouldn't go to sleep after what happened yesterday?

Ira sat down and stared at his phone for what seemed like a long, long time, just waiting for something, but it never came. With a very tiny sigh, he got up and made coffee, sitting at his counter on a tall stool. He didn't know what he was thinking. Jame was probably working or still asleep. And he had no reason to call or text. Not like Ira cared. Ira had shoved away those feelings a long time ago.

James finally couldn't take anymore. He had already dealt with the "who's gonna call first" stuff a long time ago with his past relationships in his younger years, he knows that it is just best to just call them first. Though Ira could despise James for doing this, he had to call him. The thoughts of Ira last night wouldn't leave his mind, he had to satisfy those needs by at least talking to him. So he grabbed his personal cell and began dialing Ira's number into it, waiting for Ira to hopefully answer.

Ira was jolted at the cold ringing of his phone, but he also felt something tighten in his chest and scurried over the couch to get it. "Hello?" He answered, his voice sounding thick and slightly raspy from the morning. He still hadn't had any coffee. It was James. And he was... He was... Excited.

"Ira?" James replied to the raspy voice over the phone. At first he didn't know if that was Ira or he dialed the wrong number. But of course he noticed the slight excitement in the person's voice, so it had to be Ira. Though it was odd that Ira was excited to be hearing from James, at least that was what James thought. "Did I wake you up?"

"Mmm, no," Ira said, rubbing his eyes. "I've been up for a few minutes." He ran his hand through his hair, his stomach tightening very slightly. Nervous again? Why? Why!? He didn't want to feel like that. He swung his feet over the back of the couch and let his head hand off as he chewed his lip. He was nervous to talk to James. And it wasn't completely unpleasant.

((Hey I'll probably won't be on 'til later. I have to cook dinner and other things, but here's my reply.))

James let out a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, I've been up for a while too." James felt like his chest had tighten and he could barely breathe. Though he tried to manage. "Um, so what are you up to?"

Ira chuckled softly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Making coffee and cleaning. But other than that, my day looks like it does every day," he said, his voice slowly shifting back into an emotionless state. "What are you up to?" Despite his empty tone, his stomach and chest were still tight from being so nervous. James had the potential to be an actual friend and that kind of frightened Ira a little. He had never had a true friend before. Growing up, the only friends he had were his cousins and he hated counting them because he felt like they only pretended to like him. It seemed like that was how most of his family reacted to him.

"Just the usual too," James laughed, feeling as uneasy as he sounded. "wanna change that?" He began to pace back and forth in his front room, trying to think about what he could do today. "I heard it's not suppose to rain today. We could go out to the park?" James was utterly worthless for his day planning skills.

Ira let out a surprised laugh and quickly wondered if James was asking him out, but rapidly shot that feeling down. No, of course he wasn't. They were just supposed to be friends. That was the only thing he was possible of maintaining for now. He didn't even know what love was anymore, or even a simple attraction. It was all messed up in his head.

"What?" James chuckled, though he was scared that Ira was declining his offer
His chest began to tighten up more as he tried to play off his nervousness. "Not an outside person?" After that he couldn't hold up his wall anymore. James let out a sigh, "You don't have to, you know."

Ira made a small noise on the other end of the phone, debating this for a moment and then answered. "Nah, I want to go out. Fresh air might be nice," he said softly. He just wanted an excuse to hang out with James again. It was incredible that someone could make him feel so much in such a short amount of time. He was in awe.