James nodded, eyes wide. It sounded so interesting in comparison to his own childhood, which he'd spent cooped up in London. Although they'd had a reasonably big garden, it had still been the centre of town, so not nearly as exciting as spending time in Peru and Egypt. He'd never even been to either place - hadn't even considered it as an option. The most exciting holiday he'd been on with his parents had been halfway down the road from their normal summer place in the south of France, and that had only been because of a booking mix-up. "Yeah, I bet it was great," he said, a little enviously. "It sounds really amazing. It must've been incredibly boring to move to Scotland of all places for school after all that exotic travelling."
He shrugged slightly, unable to see why any pub or cafe would find Terry's sootstains less endearing than he did. Then again, maybe it was just an excuse to blow him off - which was, of course, fine. It was kind of embarrassing and random to suddenly ask someone you'd had a brief conversation with out for a drink, after all - oh God, what on earth had possessed him to do it? How stupid--
So of course, Terry's final words came as a huge relief to him. He exhaled, nerves gone, and gave Terry a huge smile that was as much from relief as cheerfulness. "Okay, that sounds good. I'd really like to hear more. Shall we..." He gestured towards the front doors of the Atrium.