Setting Sparks

[Talia Spencer]

It had been a two days now since Talia had found herself in that bar. More importantly, it had been a two days since she had met Xavier. She was a social person, and working as the receptionist at Hammel she met a lot of people. However there was something about Xavier that had stuck with her. 

Well, that something probably had something to do with the amount of flirting they had done. Normally, Talia's flirting went nowhere, but this time... that urge to see him again, talk to him again, hadn't faded. 

She had been staring at this particular blank canvas for at least 20 minutes now, probably longer. But Xavier kept invading her thoughts, distracting her from any sort of creative process. That was what finally decided it for her. She pulled her phone from her pocket and curled up on her loveseat sofa. 

To: Xavier
Hey there! It's Talia, remember me? 

Talia sure hoped he remembered her. It would be tragic if she was the only one who was still thinking about their meeting the other night. She bit her lip as she wondered what more she should say. It had been awhile since she had done this whole getting to know someone thing. She was starting to feel rusty already. 

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

Xavier had been out of control for the time being when their phone buzzed in the pocket of Jaxon's favorite Khaki's. Jaxon himself wasn't too busy, just lounging around the house and reading while Xavier contemplated sleeping, but they had both been very distant as of late, and it just felt nice to be sitting with his brother without any negativity, especially after what had happened at the bar.

He was especially pissed.

Jaxon lifted his hand, reaching for the phone and raising his brow.

'Talia?'

Hm?

'Who's Talia? Is that the girl from the bar?'

It was then Xavier then snapped out of the daze that he found himself in. Talia? Oh, shit. It didn't take long for him to slide into control quickly and unexpectedly. Jaxon didn't even have time to react, but he didn't necessarily think at that point in time. Goosebumps ran along their arms as the general side effect of that transition, but Jaxon didn't respond negatively. In fact, his tone was relatively cool when he 'spoke'.

'You two really hit it off, didn't you?'

I'd like to think so.

To: Talia
Hey! Of course I do! What's up?

[Talia Spencer]

Talia fidgeted nervously as she waited for a response. Did it normally take this long to get a text back? It probably did. She was just overthinking... right? Jeez, why was she so nervous? It was just a text. No big deal... right? Right. No big deal. Not at all.

Except that it sort of was, at least according to the butterflies who seemed to have taken up a persistent residence in her stomach.

Finally her phone sounded with the familiar tune that meant a text had come in. She quickly opened the text, glad to find it was in fact from Xavier.

To: Xavier
Nothing much. Hit a bit of a block in the creative process and thought I'd try to distract myself, so of course you came to mind ;D what about you? Gotten up to anything interesting lately?

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

Jaxon remained in the background, quietly thinking to himself - or that was what Xavier had gotten with the wall present between them. However, unlike the past few nights, it wasn't defensive but rather, a respectful way to give Xavier his privacy as much as he could do so when seeing through his own eyes.

And when he decided to speak, Xavier felt calmed from the the slight nervousness that he held from hoping he hadn't said the wrong thing.

'What do you want for dinner?'

It was such a mundane and small-talk question that it eased his mind while he waited for a reply.

Pizza and Beer

'Fettuccine Alfredo with buttered shrimp, it is.'

You know me s--

But then the phone buzzed once more, and Xavier's thought promptly cut off, leaving Jaxon back to himself. Xav laughed at the words, taking no time to answer.

To Talia:
Well, I could most definitely get used to the ego patting you seem to be doing there. But sadly, I'm on the same boat. Just lounged around and did some stuff for work prep. Though I can say for a fact that my luck may have changed.

[Talia Spencer]

Some of the nerves had faded after his initial reply - after all, he seemed like he intended to continue the conversation from this point. At least she hoped that was the case. After all, he had asked a question. Usually that meant a person was interested in the answer at least. He was interested, right? Maybe he was just being polite...

Then her phone rang once more and she eagerly opened his text.

She smiled and finally began to breathe a bit easier.

To Xavier:
Ego patting is a particular talent of mine. Not that you're complaining in the least. Oh, sharing a boat are we? Sounds fun And hey, relaxing is a rare and wonderful thing. I should really make time for it more often myself.

She couldn't help but grin wider as she started at the changing luck comment.

To Xavier:
So what sort of things do you do for fun other than hanging around the bar watching sports or hanging around your place doing nothing?

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

To: Talia
Well, that makes my life seem so interesting I'm a very spontaneous person, but I do prefer outdoorsy type of entertainment. Sports, live music, live /action/ anything is awesome too.

For the longest time, Xavier had spent most of his time living for other people that he never truly had gotten a sense of himself until he was around 22 or so. Jaxon, on the other hand, was more of his own individual, knowing exactly what he wanted and what he enjoyed. It was funny how the older soul couldn't draw a straight line for his life, but the younger soul was able to paint masterpieces, as evident by the pictures hanging around their apartment, with the same hands.

He smiled, waiting for the response, with Jaxon still there. Xavier was content, to say the least, and while Jaxon was growing more uncomfortable with the texts, the younger soul took solace in his brother's calm demeanor.

[Talia Spencer]

Talia grinned at his response. It almost sounded like something she'd say.

To Xavier:
Ah, a man after my own heart I've found people tend to be way more interesting than they think they are But you're totally right. I've always preferred to /do/ things, you know? Being passive is just so boring. What kind of music do you like? I've always loved going to concerts. The energy is just insane.

She was starting to think that she might be abusing that winking emoji. Well, too late to worry about that now. Besides, he was responding quickly enough that she couldn't help but think that he probably wasn't too bothered. At least she hoped not.

It had been so long since she had cared what someone thought of her. It was a strange feeling - bittersweet almost. She didn't particularly like the feeling of worrying so much - usually she just was who she was and people could like it or not - but the giddy feeling that came with a flirtation like this... it was kind of nice in a jittery sort of way. 

Talia just hoped that he felt the same attraction that she did. She was already getting far more invested in this... whatever it was than she cared to admit. 

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

He was intrigued, most definitely, with the way she seemed to simply agree with everything he said - Part of him wondered if she was doing that 'typical' female move where everything the guy said was to be the 'right' thing if only to be on his good side. However, part of him knew for a fact that she was just being honest. If Talia was simply a 'bat your eye lashes and pretend the only thing I eat is salad' type of girl, he wouldn't have been as engaged as he was.

To Talia:
None of that mainstream crap now-a-days. Anything Red Hot Chili Peppers. Classic Rock-and-Roll. You know, the good stuff.

Jaxon was into Orchestral and Symphonic type music, but he was also into Country and even some Pop, depending on who it was. He wouldn't say it, but one of his vices was Katy Perry. Xavier couldn't really see it, but who was he to judge?

[Talia Spencer]

She genuinely laughed at his response. Everything he said just made her more interested in learning more. That was a rare feeling. 

To Xavier:
Hey! It's not all bad! I listen to a bit of everything really. Classic Rock-and-Roll is good too. I like music I can dance to, so you can sell me on most anything with a good beat.

Pop and Rock were her go to genres - anything top 40 really. That wasn't to say she didn't like anything softer or soulful though. She was an artist after all. She just had to be in the specific mindset for it. Like with all things though, she was open-minded, at least willing to give something a listen.

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

A bit of everything wasn't necessarily a bad thing; from what he experienced, trying new things and being able to appreciate numerous things was always helpful in the long run. Or at least that is what Jax had told him. However, when it came to Xavier, he wasn't necessarily the best when it came to that. He enjoyed what he enjoyed, and that was that.

That being said, he was really enjoying the conversation.

To Talia:
I'll keep that in mind. Maybe help me in the future

Was that too much? After all, the smilies seemed to be like her thing, and Xavier nearly feared it emasculated him. But during that time of worry, his finger legitimately slipped and tapped the send button.

Oh god, there was no going back then.

[Talia Spencer]

Talia's whole face lit up. She liked that he was talking about the future. Like there was one that would involve them spending time together. That was a nice thought.

To Xavier:
Looking forward to seeing just how you use that information

It was strange to think how nervous she had been about texting him initially. About texting him at all actually. But now she actually was starting to feel pretty comfortable and even more than that, she was enjoying herself a lot actually. There was still a smile on her lips as she stared at the screen of her phone, waiting expectantly.

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

It was then that the nervousness returned, and Jaxon immediately picked up on the whole feeling. It wasn't as though Xavier was nervous about talking to her any longer, per say, but he was quite interested in asking a question that could go so great, or hurt his ego quite a bit.

A man could only hope.

'What's up?' Jaxon asked.

Man, I know you probably don't want me to say this but... Could he bring himself to say it, to /ask/? After all, Xav had never requested what he was about to before, and well, he was afraid of hurting the guy.

'Dude, it's not going to help if you sit there with cliffhangers and stuttering. Whats wrong?'

You think... You think I can ask her out on a date sometime?

'Wait, Come again?'

Yeah, a, uh, date. To a place. Doing a thing.

'And you want me to do what? Sit there and listen to you babble on about how your life revolves around Nirvana and Smells like teen spirit is like God's voice?'

No! Of course not... Actually, I was wondering if you could /sleep/ during that time... you know? So you /don't/ have to deal with it.

Inwardly, Xavier was cringing at the shock and hurt that permeated the walls in their mind. Xavier knew it. He knew it.

'Yeah, I don't mind. How about I start now, you know? So I don't get in your way.' And with that, he was gone. Leaving Xavier feeling like complete shit for even asking.

But then again, that didn't stop him from texting Talia back.

To Talia:
So what are you doing next Friday night?

He was such an ass.

[Talia Spencer]

The wait between texts was longer this time, and Talia found herself wondering if she had maybe been a little too forward with her last remark. He hadn't seemed to mind her rather direct nature before now, but sometimes she crossed boundaries without realizing it.

She really hoped that wasn't the case this time. She would really hate to screw this up.

Whatever this was.

Okay, at this point she knew what this was. Or at least what she hoped it was. She didn't want to be friends... well, not just friends at least. She was genuinely interested this guy. It was a strange thought really - she hadn't felt that way in at least a year and she honestly hadn't expected to feel it again anytime soon.

But something about Xavier just drew her in. She couldn't really explain it.

Finally her phone rang again, and she swore her heart leaped into her throat at that moment.

To Xavier:
I don't know. How about you tell me?

She paused a moment after she pressed send before beginning to type again.

To Xavier:
Just to avoid any confusion, that was my cute way of saying I'm free on Friday.

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

To Talia:
I was hoping you'd say that. You up for a bit of a surprise?

The amount of relief that Xavier felt in not having to decide for himself, in that moment, because of the very 'mysterious' way in which he approached the idea. This, however, did little to ease all of his nerves, mainly because of the fact that he had never actually taken anyone on a date, and therefore had no clue what to do.

So he opted, in his mind, to be himself. The smooth guy that he was.

To Talia:
Only hint I'm giving you is be ready before 6.

[Talia Spencer]

She grinned as his response came through. Everything about it made her happy. The fact that she was going to see him again - and soon at that - and even that he was going to surprise her. So many people hated surprises, but Talia loved them. There was a thrill in the unexpected that she simply couldn't get enough of.

To Xavier:
Always. Sounds exciting

Talia was almost bouncing in her seat from anticipation, trying to think of all the possibilities of what he might have in mind. Of course, she couldn't actually, but it was fun to try and guess. Not to mention there was the matter of planning an outfit. Not knowing made that a trickier task, but it was also wintertime which limited her options anyway.

Either way, she couldn't help but feel confident that she would have fun. After all, she was enjoying herself just texting him which meant that actually spending time with him had to be even more awesome, right?

She was beaming when his second text came through.

To Xavier:
Sounds like a plan. Can't wait!