The movie was surprisingly good. Ira felt himself relax in the theater, watching the movie at the same time as he periodically ate popcorn and drank the soda that Silas had procured for them. His Host was in the middle of an uncomfortable meeting with his alpha's parents so Ira didn't pay him any attention and simply watched the movie. It was nice. In the middle of the movie we're nothing was really happening, Ira leaned against Silas's shoulder and let his eyes go half-mast. His fingers drifted over the armrest until they reach Silas' arm and then he gripped it tightly. Immediately, Silas switched their grips so that he was gripping Ira's hand.
Giving their connected hands a suspicious look Ira decided to just let it be. It was nice, he decided. The warmth of Silas' hand was somewhat soothing. He could afford to let Silas hold on for a while longer.
On the big screen, the protagonist fell into a trap. A trap made by a vicious golddigger. Ira smiled and leaned further into Silas's body. As the movie progressed, Ira felt himself grow sleepy as his eyes fell closed automatically. The dark theater together with the shining lights from the screen and the warmth of Silas next to him combined together to form an atmosphere that made Ira want to just lay down on his bed and sleep. It would probably be fine, he thought. If we just went to sleep right here right now there would be no problem. Silas would wake him up if anything happened, he was sure of it.
An explosion came from the screen. The protagonist was running for his life while fumbling for his gun, followed by a whole squad of assassins. Ira's eyes slipped closed again while the protagonist was in the middle of falling off a building that he had heroically jumped from. The assassins jumped after him, falling to their deaths predictably and Ira felt himself laugh. He felt Silas' body move as Silas spoke, "Are you tired?"
Ira shook his head, a small movement that barely took any effort.
It wasn't that he was tired. It was simply that he felt so relaxed that he didn't want to think of anything. It was nice, Ira thought. It was kind of nice to be here with Silas. In the dark, only surrounded by the sound of unfortunate humans fall to their deaths due to their own stupidity. Hearing their pain was enough for Ira to go boneless against Silas.
Grumbling a little when his hand didn't reach the popcorn, Ira stretched out his arm and gripped the popcorn box in Silas' lap, grabbing a handful of the stuff. He snacked on it gleefully. On the screen, another explosion ran out.
Deeming the movie to have become more interesting, Ira leaned back against the backrest and opened his eyes wider. He snagged the popcorn box and settled it in his lap, grabbing a fistful of the stuff and shoving it in his mouth. His eyes widened even further as the protagonist narrowly escaped death and got shot in the process by the golddigger. As the protagonist was consumed by his feelings of betrayal, Ira leaned forward in his seat and crunch down on another piece of popcorn.
An exchange took place on the screen. Motivations were laid out; the truth was coming alive us the two leads of the movie were justifying their actions. The end was coming. Ira's hand reached the bottom of the popcorn box and he frowned — there was no popcorn left.
Turning around in the seat he faced Silas and looked at him pleadingly. Not saying a word, Ira waited for Silas to react, Silas' eyes slowly drifted from the screen to Ira as he felt Ira's gaze upon him. He stared straight into Ira's eyes.
Ira stared straight back. Those eyes were familiar to him after so long — he had gotten used to them and the way they looked at him. Maybe, possibly, probably, he liked them.
He liked the way that they looked at him and never seemed to look away.
When a scream erupted from the screen, Ira returned his gaze back toward the front of the room, the dark theater not hindering his sight in the least. Immediately, his attention was caught by the golddigger dying on the screen, bleeding out from a wound that she got while protecting the protagonist. She laid there dying as she explained her reasons for her betrayal to the protagonist and used her death as her redemption, forcing the protagonist to forever live with a sense of guilt and gnawing regret of 'what could have been'.
Death, it seemed, could redeem anything.
In the face of death, there was no such thing as being too evil.
The ending of the movie left a bad taste in his mouth. Ira was frowning as the lights came back on and the noise lowered to a background level. He stood silently from his seat, ignoring the questioning look that Silas gave him.
Ira stalked out of the theater, out into the fresh air, a disquiet starting to build in his chest. He stopped outside of the building, staring out onto the street and the cars passing by. The smell of pollution followed them. The warmth of Silas soon joined him as Silas' stopped next to him, accompanying him without saying anything. Ira basked in that warmth. It was nice, he decided. It was nice to be wanted.
Sighing, Ira tipped his head back to stare up at the sky. The afternoon sky was covered by clouds, obscuring the view of the sun behind them. Ira gave it no mind as his eyes peeked past them without issues, the sun burning his retinas until he wondered if he was going to go blind.
Silas's shoulder bumped into his and Ira turned his head to face Silas. "What?" he asked. Silas gave him a soft smile in answer, not saying a word as he shrugged his shoulders. Ira looked away again. Ira didn't know how long he had been in this world but it wasn't the worst. The food was nice, he lived in a big mansion where he didn't have to interact with people if he didn't want to, and had the authority order around people as he pleased.
In his mind, he could see his Host in the middle of a talk with his alpha. Ira watched as they sat together cuddled up on the couch, talking about how his Host was in danger because the alpha had many enemies. The alpha told Ira's Host that he wasn't allowed to leave the apartment for the next two weeks as the alpha was going to root out his enemies and destroy them. Angered, Ira's Host stood up from the couch, his hands waving in the air as he moved. Furiously, he paced back and forwards, protests falling from his lips.
Apparently it was too much to ask that he stay inside where it was safe.
Ira scoffed, his boot-clad foot scuffing the ground as he watched the argument escalate to unnecessary degrees, their voice's getting progressively louder. Watching them fight resolved some of the disappointment that he had been left with by the end of the movie and Ira eagerly zoomed in. The shouting match escalated even further as Ira's Host resorted to petty name-calling.
Ira allowed Silas to entwine their arms where they stood on the sidewalk while Ira continued watching his Host make a mess of things, the alpha getting angrier and angrier as his Host accused him of not loving him. Of regarding him as nothing but a possession to own. If that was true or not, Ira didn't know. And he couldn't care less.
Rain started falling to the ground, small drops that barely made an impact when they landed. Uncaring for the rain that landed on them, Ira didn't react when Silas got an umbrella from a nearby minion and held it up above them. Silas asked, "Do you like rain?"
Ira shrugged. He hummed under his breath, glancing over at Silas who stood next to him silently, waiting patiently for a response. "Sometimes," Ira said. "it can be nice."
Silas hugged his arm tightly and the warmth reached Ira through his clothes. When he peeked at his Host again he could see that they had somehow gone from being in a vicious argument to kissing each other wildly on the couch, his Host laying passively under the alpha. How the hell they had managed that, Ira hoped he would never know. He wasn't interested in knowing in the least. He shuddered. No, this was not something he wanted to see.
He started walking. Silas kept pace with him as he walked beside him, their arms still connected. Ira allowed it to continue, seeing no reason as to deny himself what he maybe wanted. Silas was not the most horrible of people and his willingness to do what Ira wanted, as well as his habit of asking for Ira's opinion — listening and respecting his wishes — made him a somewhat likable person. Ira had already decided. In the next world ... Well, he was looking forwards to finding out what kind of person Silas was then.
For once, he wasn't dreading the next mission at the next Host.
It wouldn't be all that awful if Silas was there with him. The gooey thought made him shiver in disgust and Ira pulled away from Silas on principle. Instead of clinging to his arm, Silas simply switched his grip so that he was holding Ira's hand instead. It was not an altogether awful feeling, Ira decided. And a small connection wasn't enough to hurt him.
Just as Ira was about to say something, what, he didn't know, the words Mission Success blazed across his mind. Ira blinked in surprise, the unexpected end of the mission shocking him, and he frowned in thought. He hadn't kept track of the Host's progress as closely as he perhaps should have, being too busy enjoying the pastries that Silas baked for him. But it wasn't much of a surprise that the mission was a success. After all, it was a very simple one. And now that it was over, there was nothing tying him to this world.
In an instant, all the ties connecting their soul to this body had been severed and they was left adrift. Their soul left the empty body behind, as it always did, without leaving an inkling of their essence behind in it as it flopped uselessly to the ground, dead. Ira lingered long enough to watch Silas catch the body, a weak snarl on his lips, and a look in his eyes that Ira couldn't interpret. It was not enough for Ira to feel any regret.
As they left the empty body, their connection with the other Systems a nd Headquarters were reconnected and they could once again receive messages from their colleagues. Browsing through the list of packages they had received while working, Ira was pleased as they saw that everything that they had ordered before leaving for this mission had arrived. Pity they couldn't read it yet. They didn't have much time before they would be shunted off to the next mission but they wanted to make sure that the pictures they had taken and the videos they had filmed were safely stored in their home. They even had some recipes that Silas had given them when they asked for them. They was going to keep them and the next time that they met Silas, they would ask him to bake them again.
This was the most brilliant plan that Ira had ever concocted. With this, Silas would be able to bake their favorite cakes, cupcakes, and muffins no matter the world they were in — as long as the ingredients existed. For once, they was looking forward to the next mission. And they couldn't wait to meet Silas again.