The air between them was thick with a tension that Markus never felt before as they quietly walked up the staircase to Irys's apartment. It was thick to the point it made Markus's physical being start to feel the closest thing that it could to aching.

'So this is sexual tension, huh?' he thought to himself.

After five flights, Irys led him down a hall towards one of the doors marked with the number 505. Opening the door, he followed her inside to a narrow, short, and dimly lit entryway. There was a coat rack already holding a few coats and small bench with a row of shoes placed on top. Irys removed her coat to place it on an empty hook before bending down to untie her sneakers. When she stood to her feet, she turned to face him.

"Here, let me help you with your coat." she offered, grabbing him before he could protest.

She grabbed around his collar, sliding the coat from his shoulders and down the length of his arms, her fingers purposely grazing him as they went. Markus felt a tingling rush sweep throughout his body at her touch. Damn, did it feel good. Their eyes met, a smoldering intensity heavy in both of their stares. Irys broke their stare with her gaze falling to his clothing.

"My word, do you not have better clothes?" she asked, fingering one of the tears in his shirt, her face crinkling in distaste and concern.

She placed his coat on a hook and then grabbed his hand in hers as they walked further into the apartment. Markus found himself fixating on the warmth and softness of her hand in his. She led him into a living room area that had a dining area off to the left as you entered and to the right there was a kitchen with it's island acting as a divider between it and the living area space. It was a very nice place, everything up to date and modern but nothing too fancy or over the top. It was organized and tidied up but still looked very much lived in. What he found himself drawn to the most was the dark colored wall piano that sat to the far wall in the dining room, far enough away from the dining room table set with a guitar set on a stand beside it.

When they had walked in, Markus saw two little brown faces under piles of dark hair pop up to peer over the back of the couch at them after tearing their gazes away from the tv set in front of them.

"Mommy?" one called questioningly.

"Yes, honey. It's me." Irys's face lit up.

"Mommy!" she said excitedly, bouncing off the couch and running over to wrap her arms around Irys's leg. Markus assumed this twin was Hazel.

Halle followed suit, but at a slower, more cautious pace, eyeing Markus every step of the way as she approached, latching onto Iry's other leg, eyes still fixed on him. Irys let go of his hand so she could rub them in the hair of her daughters affectionately.

"I didn't hear you come in." called a voice from the kitchen.

He turned around to see woman emerge from the kitchen, smiling. The resemblance was strong enough for Markus to deduce that the woman was Irys's mother. She had the same thick mane of big, dark hair, yet unlike Irys's it seems that she has managed to tame and shape her hair into an almost perfectly circular shape. Her skin was more of a golden hue of brown and her face more heart shaped than round like Irys's, her dark eyes were much more narrow shaped as well.

"Didn't know you would be bringing company either." she eyed Markus with a look of polite curiosity.

"It's you again?" Hazel said, sounding surprised from Irys's side, looking at Markus.

"Hazel, stop being rude, please. Thank you." Irys replied, guiding her and Halle back to the couch.

"Mom, this is Markus. The girls and I met him on the way back from your house one day. And Markus, this is my mother." she introduced.

"Hello," Markus greeted, nodding his head towards her.

"Hi, call me Miss Issa." she replied warmly, holding out her hand to him.

"Ok." he smiled, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Will you be joining us for dinner?" she asked.

Finding himself stuck again, Markus looked to Irys, who gave him an encouraging look.

"Um, yes. I will be staying."

"Good, I made plenty anyway. You're not vegan or anything are you?" Issa asked, raising an eyebrow in a move that reminded Markus instantly of when Irys does it.

"Uh, no. I eat everything." he said, trying his hardest not to sound awkward as he did.

"That's even better." she grinned, giving him a playful pat on the arm before making her way back into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Hazel asked as Irys made her way back towards the hallway.

"Well, if it's alright with you, I'm gonna take a shower." Irys feigned incredulous at her daughter's question.

"Take a shower?" Hazel repeated, inquiringly.

"Yeah, mommy smells like nothing but hot cooking oil." she laughed, then she turned to face him,

"Markus, follow me." she instructed him, ducking her way out of the living area and back into the hallway.

He followed her until they came to a stop in front of one of the closed doors at the end of it. She opened it, revealing a closet that held a bit of everything in it. It seemed to be mostly blankets. Squatting down, she opened a big, clear plastic tote. Inside of it were neatly stacked piles of clothes and shoes. After grabbing some items, she stood up and handed him the clothing.

"What's this for?" he asked softly, taking them from her slowly.

"You clothes are ripped and ruined. I guess I didn't take notice before because of your coat. Figured you could use them." she shrugged, trying to appear indifferent.

"Are they...his?" he asked cautiously, hoping that it wouldn't upset her.

She cleared her throat softly before answering, "Yes, what I didn't donate or put in storage. He was a skinny guy, not as um...broad shouldered or...muscular like you…"she trailed off, looking away from him as she said this, her cheeks reddening the way they done with him earlier, "But he bought his clothes pretty big. Hopefully, they fit pretty close."

"Irys, you didn't…" he started but she held up her hand to him.

"No, no, no. I wanted to." she said seriously, staring at him, "Now the door just before this one is the guest bathroom. Go on and get changed. I'll be out after my shower, ok?"

"Thank you, Irys." Markus said before turning to go into the bathroom.

Markus studied his new clothing after he put them on. Irys's worries were unwarranted as the clothes fit nicely enough, making him wonder exactly how big the disparity between Laz's size and clothing was. He did feel uncomfortable wearing the clothes of the woman that he was extremely attracted to deceased husband, but he had to admit that the new clothing felt a lot better on him. Exiting the bathroom, he carried his shoes and placed them on the bench in the entryway before slowly making his way back into the living area. It appeared Irys had not emerged yet, Issa was still on the kitchen and the twins were still on the couch. Hazel was bouncing up and down on the couch, singing along to the programming on the tv while Halle giggled at her, even joining in on some of the verses.

Issa noticed his presence as he stood quietly in the doorway.

"It's ok, go on and sit down." she encouraged with a smile and a wave of her hands.

Markus took a seat on the loveseat. As he sat down, the twins both stopped their playing and stared at him blankly. He had to admit that if he had sweat glands, a nervous sheen may have coated his forehead.

"You change your clothes?" Hazel asked, her little hand quirked in a questioning gesture.

"Oh, uh, yes. Your mother gave them to me." he replied, rubbing his hands nervously on his newly acquired jeans.

"What?" Hazel gasped in surprise, "But why?"

"Hazel, enough bothering Mr. Markus." Issa called from the island towards them. "As a matter of fact, being that Mr. Markus is no longer using the bathroom, you two go on in there and clean up for dinner."

"Ok." they both chorused as they scurried out of the living room.

Issa watched them leave the room before turning to Markus, "You can turn the channel if you want. The remote is on the table."

"Oh no, I'm fine." Markus declined.

"Alright, that just means I can change it then. I think I've had about my fill of kid tv today." she walked into the living, picked up the remote, and changed it to a news broadcast.

As she began walking back into the kitchen, Markus heard Irys telling the girls not to play around in the bathroom and wash their hands. The girls returned to their perches on the couch, while Irys went into the kitchen with Issa. Markus felt his eyes instantly become stuck on her once he caught sight of her. She came out dressed in a pair of high waisted leggings, a cropped hoodie, and a pair of slippers that were crocheted to resemble high tops sneakers. Her hair was loose and wild again and her simple ensemble accentuated her figure pleasurably. As she stood next to her mother, talking and helping her with something, Markus noticed where their real resemblance to each other lay. Both Issa and Irys had compact, thickly built, and curvy figures. Their arms were thick, their busts and butts ample with big, shapely legs and wide, rounded hips that flared out from under significantly smaller waists. In spite of the waistline, neither had flat or toned stomachs, but they didn't protrude nor lap over. Issa's portions were much larger than her daughter's and whereas her shape could be described as an exact hourglass, Irys was more pear-shaped with her bottom half being a bit larger than her top. After raking over her body with his eyes more than a few times, he decided it would be best to turn his attention to something else. Before he could turn away, Irys caught him, and gave him small shy but knowing smile. He had thought to himself that if it was possible for him to blush, he would have in that moment. He did feel a rush of heat go towards his face. Her smile disappeared as her stare turned towards the tv and her face seemed to fall.

"Oh no, oh no." she called out, shaking her head slightly.

She ran over to the table, grabbed the remote, and changed it quickly.

"We won't be having none of that." he heard her say under her breath.

"Girl, how do you expect to go through life having no idea of what's going on in the world?" Issa asked her shaking her head, giving Irys a questioning and annoyed look.

"Mom, ain't nothing going on the news now that's any different than what's been going on in the news for decades now. It's depressing bull crap, depressing bull crap, nice fluff piece inserted here to hold you over until they add more depressing bull crap. Maybe something about sports."

"Bull crap?" Hazel repeated, eliciting a small chuckle from Halle.

"Don't repeat what mommy says." Irys pointed her finger at Hazel warningly, although it seemed halfhearted.

"What about the girls? As they grow up, they need to know these things." Issa countered.

"Know what, mom? They can learn plenty in school, if they've decided to update their history and curriculum yet that is. And if you want the girls to know that the world is dying a slow, suffering death and going to hell in a handbasket, they can learn it on somebody else's watch, not mines."

Issa simply responded with a noise of disapproval, returning to her task in the kitchen, "Anyway, dinner's ready."

"Girls, go sit down at the table." Irys instructed, then turned to Markus, "Would you like to help me set the table?"

"Yes, sure." he rose to his feet and followed her into the kitchen.

"Here you go, Mr. Markus. You can set the plates." Issa smiled, handing him a small pile of plates and utensils.

Markus took the dishes over to the table where Hazel and Halle sat on one side, again both of them watched him unflinchingly as he set the places. He approached them nervously as he set their plates in front of them.

"Thanks." Hazel grinned up at him.

"You're welcome." he replied simply.

He set Halle's plate in front of her to which he was surprised when she quietly responded, "Thank you, Mr. Markus."

"You're welcome too." he chuckled softly to cover his surprise.

While he finished setting the table, he had a quick flashback to setting the table for Carl. It felt different setting the table for a family, instead of one man. Suddenly Markus had to fight back a feeling of sadness at how lonely Carl had been and must be without him around now. When he was finished, he took a seat on the opposite side of the table. Irys and Issa came over with the food. Issa had a large pan of lasagna that she set down in the center of the table, while Irys had a bowl of salad and a basket of breadsticks. It was Irys that handed out the food as Issa took a seat at the head of the table. Markus inwardly cringed at the large helping that she gave him. He figured in order to save face, he would have to eat something on the plate. The coffee from earlier didn't have any negative effect, so maybe a few bites of lasagna wouldn't do any damage either.

Irys sat down next to him, placing him between her and Issa. She held out her hand to him which he was at first a bit confused by until he felt Issa lightly tap his arm from the other side. Then he saw that they were joining hands with each other with Irys already holding one of the twins's hand from across the table.

"Oh, sorry." he said quickly taking both of theirs hands.

"That's alright." Issa gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "I take it you don't come from a praying family?"

"No, actually. Not really." he replied, trying to recall if he ever saw Carl pray in any way at all.

"Let us bow our heads."

He did as instructed and listened to Issa say a short prayer over the food, giving thanks for it and also giving thanks that he had joined them tonight for dinner. At that Markus had to bite down the awkwardness that he felt deep down in the pit of his being.

The dinner started of relatively quiet, save for Irys scolding Hazel a few times for ripping up her breadstick, attempting to play with them as if they were dolls. Halle ate in silence but Markus noticed that she wouldn't touch the salad on her plate. It made him remember how Irys had asked the girls about eating their vegetables when they first met, suddenly Halle's silence made more sense as something other than shyness. A few times, Markus felt his eyes glance over towards the piano and guitar. Even before his sentience, he always seemed to have an affinity for the piano more than everything else he had been programmed to be good at.

"Mr. Markus, are you one the folks that have work these days?" Issa asked in between bites.

Irys shot an annoyed look at Issa as she asked this. Markus found himself too preoccupied with trying to look natural while eating the bits of lasagna, at Issa's question he almost choked.

After stammering quietly for a few seconds he answered, "I'm not working at the moment, unfortunately."

"That's fine if you don't. It seems like nobody has a job in this country any more. Everybody rather have those android things work instead of actual people." Issa said with a hint of bitterness in her tone, "I mean I guess you can say there are some benefits to having them work in some jobs instead of humans, but it just seems like nobody wants human employees anymore. And there isn't even anything in play to really help all those people that are now unemployed because of it."

Markus tried hard to keep his facial expression neutral during her rant. Again, he didn't like hearing her call him and his people "things", but it still provided insight into the human's frustration and resentment towards them. Whether he liked hearing it was besides the point. He felt he needed to hear so that it can be channeled later.

"Mom, let's not get into politics or whatever right now." Irys said, her tone sounding a bit irritated.

Issa shot her a hard look before saying, "Anyway, Mr. Markus, where do you live?"

There was no way Issa could have know that her attempts at small talk with him felt like an interrogation. It didn't stop him from getting uneasy at her questions.

"I live around here. I'm staying with friends at the moment." he tried to keep his tone evenly enough.

"Oh, like roommates?"

"Um, yes. Quite a few actually." He chuckled humorlessly.

"My mom actually has a room for rent." Irys suggested, "It's my old room but it doesn't look like it anymore, obviously." she snorted.

"That is true, I do. And I feel as though I charge a fair price. I know the whole rooming with a lot of roommates isn't always ideal and I have a feeling you like to be to yourself sometimes. I mean I'll be there but best believe, I'll leave you to your business, you leave me to mine. If you're ever interested, you can take my number." she offered.

"Thank you. I will consider it." he lied, but he liked thinking that if circumstances were different he wouldn't have minded taking Issa and Irys up on the offer.

It honestly would have given him more reason to have Irys in his life besides going out of his way to do so. He was certain that if his lack of presence at Jericho wasn't really felt before, they were more than probably wondering now. A part of him wondered if he snuck away to see Irys in the future, if the others would be a tad too curious.

The rest of the dinner went by without much incident. Markus surprised himself by getting down a decent enough amount of food from his plate. There was still enough left on the plate for Irys to comment, "Either you weren't really hungry today or you eat like a bird."

He just gave her a tight smile in response.

When everyone was finished, Irys took control of the cleanup whereas Issa said that she would help the twins get ready for bed. Markus offered to help Irys in the kitchen. The two of them were at the sink as she was washing the dishes and he dried with a towel and put them away. He felt really strange doing something so mundane after everything else that he had been through in the past few days. It reminded him of the simple existence that he lived with Carl beforehand, but he knew he would never be able to return back to the normalcy of that life. It didn't stop him from enjoying it here with Irys now. It didn't stop him from secretly hoping that in some way, he could actually have it with her one day. A day where she knew who he really was and him not worrying about keeping up a charade.

"Irys?"

"Yeah"

"Can I ask you a question?" he set the plate he was drying into the cabinet overhead.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why do you not watch the news? To be honest, I've never heard of anyone doing anything like that. In this day and age, it's almost impossible to not see anything news related."

Irys let out a deep sigh, "Don't think I'm weird or being a baby or something but I just don't like all the awfulness I see on there. Too much bullshit going on in the world and...it just depresses the hell out of me. Also, it's been awhile since I've been in a good enough mental space to take on the knowledge of the crap of the world outside. Doing this kind of media blackout kinda makes me feel like I'm keeping my sanity in a way."

Markus was instantly reminded of how Carl complained all the time while watching the news how awful the world had become when he watched it. With political tensions high between Russia and America, most people feel as though a third world war is just on the horizon. The there was the horrible state of the natural environment as global warming has officially has hit the point of no return and many species were extinct. Not to mention countless other things plaguing the world, Markus felt safe to assume that most were probably thinking they are just waiting out the end of the world. He could see why people like Irys may want to completely unplug from it.

"I don't think you're being a baby…I can agree, the news has become really depressing."

"I mean, I kinda hinted to you earlier, if you decide to stick around, you're gonna realize I'm quite a mess. Mentally anyway." she let out a laugh that had no humor behind it as she handed him the last of the dishes.

"Irys, you did suffer a tragedy while still relatively young. I mean, not many women your age can say that they're widowed." he said reassuringly as he dried the dish and put it away. "I wouldn't think any less of you just because you're open and honest about your past and yourself." his tone matter of fact. "If anything, I like how open you are. I find it refreshing."

Irys was quiet for a moment before replying with a simple but shaky "Thanks. I find you refreshing too."

Irys then looked at him, her features soft with vulnerability. Acting completely on impulse, Markus took his hand and placed it on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, and rubbing his thumb across it comfortingly. Once he realized what he had done, he wanted to take his hand away, but at his touch he felt Irys lean into it and he couldn't bring himself to pull away. Not to mention that the feel of her face in his palm felt good. He could never get over how warm and soft she felt. Earlier it was her hand, now her face. He began to wonder if every part of her felt as warm and soft. At that thought, his gaze was pulled to her beautiful lips that appeared more flushed. She noticed his staring at them.

"Do you want to kiss me, Markus?" she asked softly, her voice breathy.

Again, impulsively he answered, "Yes," his voice just as breathless as hers.

"You can." she sighed, her eyes closing to heavy lidded slits.

In spite of her clear verbal consent, Markus didn't immediately dive into kissing her. He closed in but then felt himself pulling back a bit. There were so many thoughts and feelings that ran through his head, trying to sway his next action towards what should have been a more rational path. Yet his physical desires proved much stronger and he pressed a soft, quick kiss on her at first. The feeling was that of incredible, pillowy softness and tantalizing warmth. When he pulled back, he saw Irys's eyes were filled with an eager, ravenous look. He had a feeling that the look was reflected in his eyes too. He never felt hunger before, but this feeling that was running through him, begging him to continue kissing Irys had to have been it. Moving in closer to her so their bodies were held tightly against each other, he kissed her again. This time a longer, deeper kiss as he pressed himself deeper against her, the curves of her body feeling as though they were molding into his. Markus tried to recall the last time he felt this utterly satisfied about anything and found that he absolutely couldn't. The longer the kiss went the more his satisfaction started to fleet, being replaced with a deeper longing to feel more, to feel more of her. The soft sounds of her sighs as she breathed into his mouth as they kissed did nothing but fuel the heat that was rising in him. His hammering heart, pumped his blood faster and there was a moment where he was afraid that too much of this built up heat would damage his inner circuits.

He was amazed that only within a day of being around her, his time and experience with Irys made him feel as though he was cultivating his humanity more. Carl may have helped him bring it out, but his time with Irys was further nurturing it. When he became deviant, when his sentience came forth, he felt in that moment that he was something more than machine, that he was alive, but the feelings that he felt today, felt with her now only cemented it. That night at the mansion Markus first became human, tonight kissing Irys after all the build up from today, made him finally start to really feel human.