James still held on to the stick, but held it up indecisively. He frowned as he processed what the man said. "Oh..." he said. And then he lowered the stick.

Anthony had managed to calm down a bit, as it seemed that the accusations were over with. "Not– not boys. I don't do anything with them," he still kept on saying that, trying to convince the kid that he's entirely innocent in this case. It seemed that it worked, as he wasn't beating him anymore, but he was still cautious.

"But... I asked and you said yes..." James said, very confused. The man had been nice to him, so maybe he wasn't bad? Grown ups were so weird.

Now that it had dawned on him that his previous encounters with this kid weren't just hallucinations or something, he was much more prepared to deal with the situation. "I was.........confused?" He can't remember the specifics, but he's trying to. This was how he remembered it going down, at least. "I– thought you meant boys as in...men. Not kids."

"Oh..." James thought for a moment. He could question the man extensively, but we've cringed enough the man had seemed nice from the beginning. "Sorry I hit you..."

[cw: references to homophobia]

Was that it? He wasn't getting interrogated or beaten any more? It was difficult to believe. "...Right." Anthony nodded awkwardly. At least one person doesn't think he's a sodomite that should be in jail. That was a small victory in itself, wasn't it? "It's fine. It isn't your fault."

James looked at him awkwardly. He dropped the stick. "Will you still be my dad?"

That certainly took him by surprise. "...Do you want me to be your dad, again?" He didn't know whether he was cut out for that. Coupled with the fact that he.....actually has a boyfriend, now, and he can't just randomly show up at home with a child. Or, well, he can, but he shouldn't.

"Yeah. I could make you porridge again." And make his life ten times more difficult. And make him cry an average of five times a day. And come up with shitty hobbies. Fun stuff like that.

Would Elijah mind if he just came home tonight with a kid? "I'm sure that you'd be a great kid, but..." how does he begin to say this. "look, I have a.....man...partner...friend, that I basically live with, and it'd be a bit weird if I just came home tonight with a kid."