[Jaden Wolf]

Nathan Thomson | Zion Oberon

Nate made a mistake.

He suspected so, when he met his employer for this new job, but thought he ought to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

Now that they were at the mouth of some cave in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by unsavoury types, he was quite sure his instincts had been right. Alas, he was far too frightened to back out now. He was also too frightened to actually show that he was frightened. After all, one thing common to both his world and this one was that bad people tended to prey on those who seemed weak.

[Jaden Wolf]

Ok, so really, he could probably take on all 14 of these guys and win - if he wanted to - but that would require actually confessing his abilities. Even in the face of potential danger, somehow exposing his powers was still more anxiety-inducing. While he wished his siblings were here with him, he was also glad they weren't, only because they'd laugh at him.

"-id. Kid. Hey, kid, you ignoring me?"

Nate startled. He'd gotten so wrapped up in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed one of the men trying to get his attention. From the expression on the already ugly, scarred face, the man had been calling for a while.

[Jaden Wolf]

"U-uh, yes?" he answered, internally wincing at the catch in his voice. The guy harrumphed.

"The fuck you jus' standing there for? Make yourself useful, go pack up those supplies!"

Dodging the man's scowl, Nate scrambled toward the indicated pile of supplies. As he did so, he happened to glance up toward the boss. Embarrassment flushed through him when he saw the intense blue eyes fixed on him. He quickly ducked his head, busying himself with untangling the pile of rope that had fallen out of their crate.

[Jaden Wolf]

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boss turn back to the two men he had been talking to. Relief flooded through him. It would be terrible if the boss felt that Nate wasn't pulling his weight. At best, he'd get a pay cut. At worst...well, he shuddered to think what the man might let these thugs do to him.

When he'd first met him, he'd actually been struck dumb for a moment by the man's sheer beauty. Zion Oberon easily could have been a model, long legs and a robust figure that was a little on the slim side. Long eyelashes made his vivid blue eyes stand out even more. Only a tiny scar across one eyebrow marred his otherwise perfect face.

[Jaden Wolf]

At the time, Zion had been wearing a well-tailored suit that showed off his figure in such a way that Nate had to wonder if it were intentional. All in all, being near him had made Nate feel so inadequate in comparison that he'd had difficulty even answering the interviewer's questions.

He might've thought it was just the aura of business the man had had, but when he showed up for work today, he was almost sorry to discover it was not. He had to admit that although he tended to prefer women, the sight of Zion made him warm inside. He tried not to think about it.

[Week 1 posts]

[Jaden Wolf]

He tried not to think about the skin-tight black turtleneck the guy had on, which showed off the man's wiry musculature. The way the hem was tucked into belted black jeans. The fact that the perfect fit of those pants said a lot about the kind of money the man could put into them. The clothes were fine, sure, but clearly there was something to be said about the man wearing them.

It was mostly the eyes he couldn't get away from. Nate couldn't exactly say what shade of blue they were, exactly, but they had a way of pinning a person in place when he looked at you. Like he was doing to Nate.

[Jaden Wolf]

Oh. Wait.

The blood rushed to Nate's face as the young man scrambled to get his flagging hands busy again. He could feel Zion's stare boring into him from across the clearing. He'd caught him staring.

When did he start staring?

It was ridiculous, Nate acting like he was still a teenager or something, unable to handle a little crush without completely losing his head. And he had to admit, after that, that he did have a bit of a crush. Something about the man was making Nate question his own sexuality and it was a little...no, very unsettling. Who'd have thought he'd have a type? Or really, a type that applied only to men?

[Jaden Wolf]

He was so caught up in his mental chastising that he nearly jumped right out of his skin when a voice came from behind him.

"Name."

He wasn't afraid to admit (in his own head) that he'd made a rather undignified squeak. Wheeling around, Nate found himself face-to-face with Zion. The man didn't look angry, exactly, but he didn't look happy either. Though, now that he was thinking about it, he hadn't seen his boss express much of anything. He was just standing there, arms crossed, with his clipboard dangling from his fingertips.

The sharpening gaze reminded Nate that Zion had actually said something.

[Jaden Wolf]

"Um," he squeaked out, clearing his throat to continue more strongly, "sorry, what was that?"

Zion's lips pressed together slightly for a moment. "Your name, what is it?" he repeated sharply. Nate shrank a little at the tone. Expression or no expression, Zion didn't seem too happy with him, and he was really the last person Nate wanted to piss off right now.

"N-Nathan," he croaked pathetically. "Uh, Nathan Thomson."

[Jaden Wolf]

"Hm."

It seemed it was the only reply Zion deigned to give him, though Nate wasn't really sure what other kind of reply he had been expecting. He didn't know exactly why the boss was talking to him right now, though he did hope it wasn't because Nate sucked at his job.

Zion was flipping through the papers on his clipboard now, not seeming to pay any more mind to Nate, who was wringing his hands on a piece of rope. He was going to give himself rope burn at this rate.

[Week 2 posts]

[Jaden Wolf]

"You joined us in Lamenolai." It wasn't a question. Nate nodded anyway, trying not to think about the fact most of these men were from the Slums. Zion dropped his papers back into place with a faint "hm," and looked at him. Nate tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.

"Put down that rope before you hurt yourself," the man said curtly and walked away. Nate blinked and looked down to where his hands were going red from worrying the rope. Obediently, he just dropped the rope where he stood.

[Jaden Wolf]

When he looked back up, he thought he saw Zion turning away with a faint smirk on his face, but that had to be a trick of the eyes. After a second, he realized he was now just standing around. He needed to be working.

He was about to turn back to the rope, but Zion's words replayed in his mind and he hesitated. Surely picking the rope back up would go against instructions. Sure, the instructions were probably more in-the-moment but Nate didn't really want to make assumptions. Not here, not now, not with this guy.

[Jaden Wolf]

For a moment he just floundered, shuffling in place as he looked around anxiously for something to do. Most of the obvious tasks required heavy lifting, which Nate was doing his best to stay clear of. He hated trying to decide if something was too heavy for him to reasonably carry. People would get suspicious if he suddenly hefted a 200 pound load without realizing, after all.

After a moment then, he resigned himself to packing the carts. Though the carts wouldn't be going far, they would be taking them in to a large cavern that would be base camp until the job was done. The only reason Nate had been avoiding it was that most of the scary men and women were also doing that job. To help out, Nate would actually have to insert himself among them.

[Jaden Wolf]

As quietly as he could, Nate slipped in among the others and picked up the first thing he saw to put in a cart. Thankfully no one was really paying attention to him, but he couldn't help but feel like they were. In fact, he legitimately thought one man was staring at him out of the corner of his eye, right up until the guy rubbed at it and Nate realized it was a glass eye that had slid out of alignment. He shuddered to think about how the man had lost the original one to begin with. It was probably too prejudicial of him but what with where these men came from and the things he occasionally overheard from hushed conversations, it probably wasn't too far off the mark.

[Jaden Wolf]

Pierce Oberon

He knew something was up when the people around him started muttering amongst themselves. Risking a glance up from the pack he was sorting through, he saw them all glancing not-so-subtly in a particular direction.

Following their gazes, he noticed a stranger chatting with Zion. Genuinely chatting too, both their body language was far more lax than Nate had come to expect of Zion. He found himself curious about who this stranger could be, to be so comfortable with the man.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]