James Ironside

     a quick glance down at the book title , and she’s giving a thoughtful hum. conduit propaganda, at its finest. a shame such misleading information was even published , to begin with. still though ; a library book , was a library book. it shouldn’t be so carelessly thrown into a trashcan. a small frown pulls at her mouth , as she sets the book down. “ well … i wouldn’t say that i disagree , but , it shouldn’t go into such icky public garbage. ” as she speaks , she reaches to grab her pack of sanitizing wipes , wiping first her hands and then the book. “ there we go , you should be able to return it , without too much , hassle. ”

      her dog gives another loud bark , this time whining about the lack of attention. “ looks like someone , wants either attention or a treat. and knowing him , it’s probably both. ” she chuckles with a lighthearted smile , picking up the leash. “ i’m fallon , by the way. and this big brat , is dubai. he’s all bark and no bite , i promise. here , just offer him a treat. he’ll warm up to you within seconds. ”  fallon hands the man one of the dog treats , motioning for her companion , to sit. “ we’re actually new to chicago , and would be super appreciative of a tour guide! if you’re interested , that is? ”  

James watched, curious, as the young stranger fished the book out of the trash and cleaned it. Then her dog gave a bark, probably feeling left out, and James smiled, crouched and gave the beautiful creature some love. “I’m sure he is,” He said, smiling up at the owner, gladly taking the treat to give to Dubai. “I keep thinking I should get a dog but the opportunity just hasn’t presented itself just yet.” He added, petting the dog.

“I’m relatively new to Chicago too. I moved here from Los Angeles a couple of months ago. Though I do know there is a fabulous club about a mile that way,” James pointed in the direction of his club, Blaze. “What kinds of places do you like?”

“Well, maybe not on me as on others instead of keeping things in and away all the time.” Dillon waited a few seconds, allowing for the other to rub along his and before pulling the steel he and placed on Jim back to himself and then turning himself back into flesh and bone.  His own ability to turn his body into other materials even some energy form was something he had always been used to once his power manifested. It still surprised him however that with others, he merely coated them but it was still as flexible and easy to move as if they were normal.

James hoped to get to a point where his mind, soul, naturally did that. Though he was open, the gravity of it all refused to budge from within him.  He languidly watched the metal slide back along his hand, back into Dillon. Part of him wished he was more selfish, that he could just turn his back on the pressures. Turn his back on the pain of the past an come out from under it completely. 

He missed being happy.

Curling his fingers between Dillon’s tightly, he smiling at the gentle giant. “Alright. Let’s give that a try.” He said softly, dropping their locked hands between them like any of the other couples on the street.

  today seemed like a great day , to go exploring the city. and she decided to take full advantage of her free time , by doing just that. fallon was strolling through the particularly nice looking park, only to have stop , so she could adjust her shoes. claiming the vacant bench , she sat to do so. letting the grip on her dog’s leash slip , in the process. only for both to be startled at the sound of something heavy , being thrown into the nearby trashcan. the great dane turned his full attention to the stranger , before letting out a round of loud barks. 

    “ hey , shush! you’re so noisy , my goodness. ” fallon scolds her companion lightly , before turning towards the man. “ i’m so , sorry! he just likes hearing himself bark , honestly. you spooked him , when you tossed your ….. book? ” brows furrowed lightly as she reaches to carefully pluck the object , from the garbage. “ if it isn’t too much to ask , why did you throw away …. a library book? it’s all bent and battered now , what a shame. ” she questions curiously, up to the stranger. 

There was something about a dog barking that automatically drew his head toward it. When it came from such a gorgeous beauty as this, it was worth it! James smiled at the big dog despite its bark being in his direction; James assumed it was something behind him until the owner came over to him. He watched her pluck the dreadful book from the bin, his eyes moving between the pair; the door seemed calmer now, though James risked not holding out his hand.

“I threw that particular book away because it is worth less than the paper it is printed on.” James replied companionably, smiling amicably at the young stranger. “I have a reverence for books of any kind, so believe me when I say that this one just shouldn’t have been published.”

Dillon wasn’t as airheaded as he let some belief. He knew the value of his method of seeing things. He knew actions had consequences and not everyone could see them let alone deal with them properly. However, he just knew life was far too damn short for it all. Once James put his hand on his chest, Dillon instinctively flexed the muscles beneath. He took a second before answering the other’s question. “Well, some of us just have a natural ability to put them up quickly so things bounce off of us.” Underneath the man’s hand, his skin slowly turned into a pure steel form. But reaching his hand out Dillon moved his fingers to get under James’ hand and weave them between the man’s own as he held his hand and moved it just a bit away. His own hand turning back into flesh as James’ hand begun to cover in steel itself. “But then I realize my problems aren’t my own, they’re not as world ending as I think and we can share them. It helps knowing I got people I can share with and help along the way. Makes every bad thing that happens to me feel not so world-ending well.. faster than if I just dwell in it.”

It was quite the sensation to feel Dillon’s chest turn from the firm softness of his muscle to unyielding steel. Just as commanding as watching his own skin bleed sturdy silver. He would not do Dillon the disservice of wondering if his ability to withstand emotional pain was linked to his ability to do it physically. The steel suited his personality. What did that say about James that he could override anyone’s autonomy and control them? He held onto Dillon’s hand, the part of him that he tries to quiet telling him how much he was enjoying the close intimacy.

“So, your advice would be to keep leaning on you?” James smiled, running his thumb along Dillon’s hand, feeling what he could through the steel.

And there was the question. He smirked at it. Dillon got asked that many many times in his life. Well, ever since he changed from the younger more impulsive man he once was. He was asked so much so that he didn’t even have to think about the answer anymore. “Because it’s not the first time, and its not going to be the last. Life is always going to throw something at you, it’s just the nature of life. Good times, bad times, and boring times with them coming and going like the tide. So when life wants to punch me in the groin I take the hit, stand back up and ask it if that’s the best it can do. I still get sad, upset, and annoyed at things sure. But I’m not going to let those experiences affect me for the rest of my life. Well, until that life is gone anyway. I can worry about my issues when I’m dead and slap life across the face and say it never broke me.”

James admiration of Dillon rose. Life had taken a lot from him and it had nearly destroyed James utterly. Those months where he used - abused? - his power... Those he lay on his parents sofa just existing without purpose... Dillon’s disposition in the face of pain and heartbreak bordered on heroic for James. “And how is it you just shrug it all off without any of it getting under your skin?” James asked softly, resting his hand on Dillon’s chest, over his heart. “How...do you raise that wall so quickly yet still be able to take it down when you want to connect to someone?”

For those moments, it was just James and Dillon. Any onlooker or passerby paled in priority; selfishly, James found he really, really wanted this answer. It would explain why Dillon was how he was and...maybe he could use it too to shake off the gravity of the past. Or future.

He didn’t have to be a psychic to see that James had… shifted. He had always seemed guarded and reserved before. Dillon believed it was probably just his personality but he hadn’t ever really figured out how he pulled it off. Dillon himself was very open about a lot of things but he was very much a ‘where the chips fall’ type of guy. But in this, he knew that James had more to lose than a simple 'well that didn’t work out’ especially when compared to himself. “Yeah, we can stress on it then, I know you are but try not to until you’ve had something in your stomach alright.”

There was the caring Dillon James knew, just caring in a pragmatic way. It felt so surreal that he had not realised that ten seconds ago, that it had seemed callous in his emotionally distorted moment. His heavy, introspective mood thinned. James managed a soft smile at Dillon. He used to he a man of such pragmatism, of such logic; being a lawyer had required no distortion, obfuscation or misdirection. Now...his emotions were stronger. Both good and ill.

“How do you do that, just shrug off anything big, or bad, life throws at you?” James asked, voice not far from fond, and admiring.

Ever since moving to Chicago a few months ago, Robin felt himself going through more and more culture shocks than he’d ever anticipated. Of course being in any new, foreign place warranted that whole fish out of water feeling, but there were a couple of things that just purely baffled him. He’d decided going to the park would be an outing that would leave little room to fluster him - everybody liked parks, right? And most parks were par for the course, unless they had intensely strict rules about not walking on the grass or no pets. But this one didn’t seem to have either.

He’d settled himself on a bench by himself, preferring to spend the time solo as he people watched and bit into the sandwich he’d gotten from a corner deli. It was all going fairly well, until he noticed a guy across from him seem to stand up abruptly and, to his great surprise, toss a book into the receptacle. Now, certain items did indeed belong in the bin, but a book? Surely it couldn’t have been that awful. Before the guy even turned around, Robin had whistled in his direction, raising his free hand in a questioning gesture. “You just make a habit of tossing your books in the bin?” 

In a instinctual reaction common to all humans, James turned toward the sudden sound of a whistle. An almost Pavlovian response. He was mildly surprised it was for him, coming from a young, complete stranger. “Oh, that?” James asked rhetorically, pointing to the bin. “Normally I would have the deepest reverence for books, any and all books, but this one is worth less than the paper it’s printed on.” James said, smiling jovially at the younger man. “Trust me, it’s one that deserves to be forgotten and burned.”

“Glad we both agree on that one.” It definitely wasn’t the time to talk about it. He understood why James had pushed it though but he knew that at the same time, it was going to get a bit… complicated when it finally came up. But it was out there now, and whatever happened next, well, they would have to deal with it. “Maybe over our food, I’m still quite hungry and you definitely don’t want to get in the way of a man and his food.”

This was the first time Dillon’s blazé ability to handle anything felt like a potential negative. James felt like gravity had doubled, tripled, yet Dillon seemed almost entirely unaffected. He had to look really close to detect any trace of uncomfortableness, which, in that moment, felt like Dillon didn’t care as much as he. James sighed heavily, knowing he was getting emotional and that it was distorting his thoughts.

“...You’re right. Let’s go back.” He said quietly, his mood obviously much reduced from the weight of all of this, all that may be about to come. Although Dillon’s ability to be (mostly) unaffected by anything slightly stung in this moment, James still admired the man so much for his resilience. He started walking back to the club, caught in his own head.

Feeling the other grip his wrist again, Dillon wondered how he had such a good aim with it. But he just smirked and turning his fingers down, turned his arm more into air than flesh to get through. “Well, its an answer. It’s just not one that’s very direct and clear as I leave it to you. What you want to do with it is up to you. Maul it over, as I know its not something that’s easy for you.”

Dillon’s arm dissolving out of his hand was inconsequential in the grand scheme. That smirk, which usually heralded some charm and banter - and flirting - was irksome. James didn’t like that. “Dillon...you’re my employee. You just kissed me. There can be no ambiguity if...” If they were to move forward, though in what direction James really did not know. There lay risk, legal and personal. Could Dillon invest enough of himself into a relationship that it would last? 

James sighed and took a step back, the earlier ignition of exhilaration from the kiss dying fast. He had to sidestep to avoid another pedestrian walking at high speeds. “This is something we need to talk about, but not here.” Not when they could not have the privacy such a discussion demanded.

To be honest, the other’s sudden directness was surprising to him, interesting, the kind he sort of liked, but surprising all the same. The truth was, he wasn’t too sure about the answer himself. A fact he was pretty sure was shown on his face to the question being asked. But, with it out there, Dillon reached out to wrap his arm around James’ back and pull him against his own body. Just as quickly as he just moved, he planted a deep kiss on the other’s lips and pulling him in a bit closer. To be honest, while the kiss itself felt good, he couldn’t help but somewhat laugh just a little at the sandpaper-like rubbing his facial hair had against James’ own.

Once he had released James. Dillon stayed close to him before simply saying “But the rest is up to you.” Before backing away and slowly continuing to walk to the club and looking back at the other. “We still got to get cleaned up and eat. Coming?”

A part of James enjoyed the shock crossing Dillon’s face, enjoying the ability to take him by surprise. He kept his hand on the big man’s wrist despite the knowledge that Dillon was very much a tactile man. Especially when he had permission. Being pulled in for a kiss...James wasn’t sure what to do with that. He enjoyed it, enjoyed the strong arm around him and the press of soft heat against his own lips. Dillon initiating it gave him plausible deniability should something happen from this.

The kiss, although sending tingles through him, was not an answer, not matter how much it felt like one. He blamed Dillon’s chest pressing against him for those tingles; so soft yet hard at the same time. And he blamed those tingles on his mind turning to jelly, only coming back to him as Dillon’s touch left his body. 

Not an answer... James tastes his lips as he started after Dillon. “Dillon,” He called, using his own long legs to his advantage. He grabbed Dillon’s wrist again. “While that was...very nice...I need an actual answer.” He said, voice soft - as it usually was - but firm. He needed explicit answers.

“Throwing away literature? Damn, and I thought reading was fundamental, guess it must not be for everybody.” Donnie said as he came closer to the man. “So what did you have there that was so bad you just couldn’t bear to read it more?” with one glance into the bin, he got a glimpse of exactly what he had been asking for and his features darkened slightly, eyes narrowing as he forced himself to take a deep breath. “Oh, that makes sense. I can see why you’d throw that out.”

James glanced toward the voice off to his side, following it to a handsome stranger. He smiled at the man’s charm and managed to roll his eyes before the man leaned over to look at his discarded book. So close, James saw Handsome’s face change at seeing the title; James knew how that felt after reading it!

“If it had any less viable evidence it would be in the fiction section,” James scoffed, turning fully to the stranger. “Have you managed to read it cover to cover?” What little James had endured gave him no hope for anything worthwhile in the book, but just in case, he asked.

Hmm...was Handsome a scholar - his jawline and musculature suggested not - or could he be a conduit himself, offended just as James was?