Twenty Over Thirty || manxman

II - The One & The Other

James received the container, with a chuckle. "I'm glad you liked it. Are you heading out to the grocery store now?"

Kurt took a step back, folding his hands behind his head, and James couldn't help but look down when the young man's shirt came up just a little at the hem. He had a line of hair that ran down into his shorts, and the tightness of his abs from what James could see was absolutely flawless.

Get it together, James. Jesus Christ...

"Saving that for later," Kurt said, "For now, I should probably look around for a job now that I have a Green Card. Money wise, I'm covered for the next couple of months, but I'll run out sooner or later so might as well start looking now. Would you happen to know anyone that's hiring?"

James smiled at the question, "Not off the top of my head. Sorry."

"Okay, then," Kurt stepped back further as to get out of James' way. "Guess I should let you go. Looks like you're headed somewhere important."

Locking up his apartment after putting the Tupperware container in the kitchen, James stood at the top of the stairs and looked back at his neighbor. "Um, good luck finding a job," he said, "See you later or something."

"Or something," the young man smirked and went back to his apartment.

As James walked down the stairs to the first level of the building, he stopped suddenly and virtually found himself speaking before he could think of what exactly he was saying, "Hey, Kurt," he called up the steps, just catching his neighbor before he vanished. "If, by any chance, you don't happen to find anything to cook for yourself at the store, you're more than welcome to have dinner with me. It's completely up to you though. Probably don't want to spend too much time around an old fogey like me. You could just think of it as me being a friendly neighbor."

Kurt smiled down at James from his door, "What the hell is an 'old fogey'. Is that what you Americans say instead of 'old man'?"

James got a kick out of Kurt's accent, it was so interesting, heavy, and the way he pronounced his words was cute and amusing all in one, and that damn smirk on those well-shaped lips was killing him from the inside. "Pretty much," James returned a slim smile up at the young man looking down on him. "You don't have to take my offer if you don't want to, but I'll have you know I make a mean lasagna."

"You know," Kurt said, "I grew up thinking all Americans were stuck up, over privileged Yanks, and when I first got here, I made a pact to avoid most of you to the best of my abilities. But...you're slowly changing my opinion. Congratulations."

"So I'll see you around six?"

"Let's call it a neighbor date."

And then Kurt went back inside, leaving James standing there with the dumbest grin. It'd been a while since he actually talked to anyone interesting, and Kurt was the kind of person he wanted to get to know, even if it was just solely on the friendly platform. Even though the guy did appear significantly younger than him, it wasn't a crime to hang out with someone, right? Given Kurt had moved out and lived on his own, it was clear he was at least old enough to be acquainted with a guy his age.

James tried not to think about it anymore while he drove to work, because the longer he focused on having dinner with someone who looked like they were in their first or second year of college, the weirder it made him feel as a grown man.

The office building was just opening up when James arrived, and when he rode the elevator up to his floor, the smell of fresh coffee invaded his nose. He made his way to the employee room to make himself a cup, acknowledging his coworkers that offered nods here and there.