Eternal Love [Druig]

Nineteen

Chicago

Ira forced himself away, practically jumped at the opportunity to visit Phastos. He needed the break, needed to move and stretch his limbs in a way that wasn't fighting or arguing or mourning. He was too tired to even acknowledge his sadness anymore. He just let it lay limp in the air around him in hopes that it would evaporate once he got under the sun.

It worked, but only slightly. So as Ira, Sersi, and Ikaris walked through a pleasant neighborhood, he observed all the families eating dinner around the kitchen tables or playing with their kids outside. He smiled and the simplicity of it all, trying to keep it up; trying not to think that all of these people's lives could be over in a few days if they didn't stop the emergence. He took a deep breath as their small group rounded the last corner and came to a stop on a driveway.

A boy and his father were in the driveway passing a football back and forth. Phastos was in the garage watching on happily as he fixed the boy's bike. Ira smiled but Phastos' dropped upon seeing them standing there.

"Hi." Sersi said.

"Hello, Can we help you?" The man asked, pausing with the football in his hands.

"Throw it again!" The boy prompted and the man threw the ball back.

"Hey, Jack. Ben," Phastos came out of the garage and chuckled nervously. "Hey, guys. These are my friends from college. Uh, this is Sylvia-" He said approaching the trio and pointing to everyone. "And uh, Isaac. That's Isaac." He said, pointing to Ikaris. "And that-" He moved towards Ira. "Ian. That's Ian." He decided.

"Ian?" Ira whispered underneath his breath, testing it out on his tongue before shaking his head in distaste.

"Dad, that's Superman!" The boy-- Jack said. "

"Jack, Jack, that's really funny-"

"No, no! He is Superman."

"That is definitely not Superman," Phastos tried to save.

"I saw him on TV! He was in London, fighting a monster. And you were with a cape and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes. And you!" Jack turned to Ira who was momentarily stunned that the boy deemed him important enough to talk to. "You were in Madrid! Pow, pow, pow. You were amazing." The boy reiterated what he must have seen on the news, jabbing his fists and letting them fly. Ira was silent, eyes slightly widened as he looked at the boy in adoration.

"I don't wear a cape." Ikaris said when he saw that Ira wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh, sorry." Jack apologized.

"Okay, well, we should just go inside, right? Can I call you Clark?" He asked Ikaris as they moved to go inside. "Is that what you go by now? Because, you know.."

"You've called me worse." Ikaris said, passing Phastos and letting himself into the front door, the rest of them trailing behind, Ira offering Jack and Ben a small smile and a nod as he passed.

Ira was never a shy person but there was just something about being in someone else's home that they worked hard to get and decorate and fill with people they love that seemed almost too intimate. He had never really had a stationary home as he always traveled or stayed at motels or hotels or inns or people's couches until it was time to move on to the next town. But, looking around, he could see why so many people valued their home; it was their safe space. It had Ira briefly thinking about what it would be like if he ever settled down. He shook his head. the thought was nearly impossible and he doubted he could be stationary for so long before the desire to explore some new part of earth overwhelmed him.

The three of them waited in the main living room as Ben and Phastos got their son ready for bed and left them to their own devices. Ira felt— to put it simply— out of place and he was seriously beginning to doubt his place among them all. Phastos and Ben had each other, and Sersi and Ikaris had each other in the vague sense that they were no longer together but there was still something between them. They were sitting together on the couch as Ira sat alone, his knee bobbing up and down repeatedly as his hands fiddled with the other.