young god

When he said those three words with such certainty, it was clear to her this was where she was suppose to be. And it was clear she felt that way too. Love had been in her life before but this was the first time it came with so much faith and trust that he would stick around despite the hardships that came. A small smile curled at her lips, eyes bright as hazel met blue. 

The smile faded slowly as she watched his expression change. Athena pulled further away, sitting against the bed as she watched him carefully. It was difficult to find the words to respond to what he said next but she would have been lying to herself if she said it wasn’t a problem. That it wasn’t something that had crossed her mind once or twice. And yet…

“… Don’t worry about that,” Athena assured him, turning away to grab the stray shirt hanging off the nightstand. She looked back at him. “Nate, that’s not something we have to think about right now. You’re human… That’s never been a problem for me.” She thought about Andina mentioning turning him into a merman one day but the thought still made her nervous enough to push away from her mind. She pulled the shirt on quickly.

he watched as she put her shirt on and quickly dismissed his concern. they had never been good at hiding things from each other, and it was clear to nate that she was worried about it too, but she didn’t want to think about it. it was impossible for him to not worry about it, and though he didn’t know what the solution was he had faith they would figure something out. “i know,” he said as he followed her lead and grabbed sweatpants from the floor and pulled them on, “we don’t have to talk about it right now.”

“let’s forget all about mermaids and royalty for a bit,” he suggested, looking at her with a smile. “i’m gonna make you breakfast, come meet me in the kitchen when you’re ready.” he stepped towards her and put one hand lightly on her hip as he kissed her forehead. “but don’t be too long ‘cause i’m not putting a shirt on.” he told her with a grin before he left her in his room.

he started a pot of coffee right away and was starting to mix up some just-add-water pancake mix when she joined him. “do you want chocolate chips in the pancakes?” he asked as he turned to her, a smile so wide on his face you would have never guessed the two of them had just had such a serious conversation.

Athena felt her heart tighten in her chest as he spoke, clear unbridled care and love in his eyes. All she wanted was to return that full-heartedly. She appreciated it more than she could voice. Trying to push away the negativity of everything, she focused on that. She focused on him. 

The mermaid cupped a hand over his cheek after his gentle kisses and smiled softly. “Just be here. Be you. That’s all you’ve ever had to do.” She leaned her forehead against his, inhaling shakily but still smiling. Hard as it was to get used to this new life, she was glad she had someone like him to see through it with her. Nate didn’t seem at all scared away by her honesty and it gave her so much hope.

“… I think I love you. I really do.” Athena exhaled, pulling away to look at Nate seriously but with a genuine softness. “I don’t say that lightly, Nate. I don’t know what’s going on with me lately or what’s going to happen in my life but you’ve been a constant for me and despite all this craziness I do still want… all of this.” Her thumb caressed the side of his cheek. “That’s why I need you to know that. That’s why I don’t want you hanging around with Catherine’s vampires or why I’m telling you about my family - I want to make sure I won’t lose you.”

nate let his eyes fall shut as her forehead pressed against his. there was somethings so beautifully tragic about the moment. though everything seemed to be crumbling down around them and their individual futures seemed to be uncertain it was clear to both of them that no matter what they would have each other. through it all nate knew that athena was the one for him. he had never been more sure of anything in his life.

it was as if she was reading his mind when she spoke next. he opened his eyes to meet hers and let a small smile onto his lips. when she had finished he leaned in and kissed her, letting the feelings swirling around inside him settle into her touch. when he pulled away and looked at her again he was smiling, but his eyes showed how serious he was, “i love you too. you won’t lose me, not ever.” even as the words came out he knew that there was an asterisk at the end of the sentence. of course athena aged at a completely different pace than him, and as long as he was human a day would come where he would be gone and she would live on without him. “but i’m human,” he reminded her, “we only have so much time.” that fact hurt him more than he could explain.

Those were a lot of questions, enough that it overwhelmed Athena to look away and bite her tongue nervously. But she understood his shock, and she knew this was something they had to talk about. It was something she hadn’t been able to talk about with anyone just yet. Despite how much Athena had been trying to avoid the truth, part of her was still desperate to let it all out.

She looked back at Nate and shook her head, clearly anxious. The mermaid then groaned and fell back against the pillow, bringing the blanket with her. “I’m not, Nate. I’m happy I found a big part of my family, but I can’t get over the changes. I’m being forced to live in a seaside mansion, which would have been great for anyone but me.” She propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. “I spent my entire life trapped in the hands of someone else - it feels like I’m reliving that. And I know I’m not but…” Her gaze moved away from Nate’s as she tried to think how to explain. But it was difficult to explain the trauma and PTSD she felt like she was experiencing. The sense of hopelessness and the fear of change that was making her fall into depression. 

So she didn’t try to. Athena just shook her head and looked back at Nate. “I know Paio and Nadia are okay with you and me but honestly… I don’t really understand the extent of what this will do to my life. Or yours if you’re with me. I’m-” She felt a lump rise in her throat and she closed her eyes, hoping it would stop them from stinging. She inhaled deeply to try and gather herself. But it was a lot. 

nate watched as she fell backwards and felt the pull of the blanket she brought along the way. his lips were in a tight line as he looked down at her, clearly the stress was getting to her and she needed to escape. he listened closely as she explained what she was feeling to him, or course she was happy to find family, but the responsibility that came with that family being royal was a whole different story. “i’m so sorry, babe. they shouldn’t be able to control you like that, it’s not fair.” he validated her feelings softly and let his hand rest on her hip gently.

as she questioned their future together and closed her eyes he felt his own heart twisting in his chest. it would take a lot more than a couple of pious mermaids to tear athena away from him. after everything they had been through to get to this point he wasn’t going to let her get away so easily. “well they’re not getting rid of me, so don’t worry about that, okay?” he said with a smile. but even with that promise worry was building up inside of him, he leaned over and pressed a long kiss to her shoulder and then to her forehead, trying to calm himself as much as her. “we’ll figure it out. just take it one day at a time. athena i’ll do anything i need to in order to stay by your side. anything.” 

he frowned down at her, thoughts of losing her threatening to consume him. “what else do you need from me? how can i make this easier?” he didn’t know how to help her but he knew he couldn’t let her go through something like this alone. he would do whatever she needed, “just say the word and i’ll do it.”

Athena laughed softly, letting herself be picked up from the counter and holding on, smiling down at him. “I just want you to still us to have glasses to drink from every night.” Being carried was not something she was usually fond of with other partners, but perhaps as the years had gone by she’d decided she actually liked it. Or maybe it was just Nate. Either way, she happily held on, trusting him to not drop her and planting the occasional kiss by leaning down as he got them to the bedroom.

The next morning, Athena woke up comfortable and warm. Eager to feel more of that warmth, she instinctively pressed herself closer to the body beside her. And that was when she started to come to her senses and wake up. Athena blinked sleepily, looking up and smiling at the sound of Nate’s voice. “What a miracle,” she said before yawning. She pressed her face against his chest before sighing and sitting up, running a hand through her messed hair.

Then, as last night’s events ran through her head, she remembered what she’d promised herself. That realization made her heart twinge and she froze in place, brows furrowing. Noting the fact Nate was probably watching her, oblivious, Athena looked down at him and blurting it out before she could lose her courage. Rip the bandaid off, as it was, so she didn’t have to agonize about the prospect of telling the truth while they got ready for the day. “I found my family.” She said quickly. Her shoulders slumped, knowing there was no going back now. “Paio is my uncle. The… king of the merkingdom. I just found out.” She winced. “Please… please don’t freak out. I’ve been dreading telling you the truth but I know you… deserve to know. I don’t want to lie.”

nate watched athena as she sat up with a tired smile on his face. but his smile quickly fell as he saw her change in mood. he propped himself up on his elbow and was about to ask her if she was okay when she beat him to it and told him everything. his mouth fell open slightly and when she was done he took a second to process everything. he pushed himself out of his laying position and sat facing her, moving his messy hair out of his face. in his conversation with the royal guards they hadn’t told him anything about her relationship to the king, and nate honestly had no idea what implications that had for her and what it would mean for their relationship.

when he had gathered his thoughts he reached out his hand and put it gently on her knee as his eyes met hers, “so what does that mean for you?” he kept his voice even and calm, even though he was going through every possible scenario in his head at a million miles a second. “will you have royal stuff to deal with all the time? am i going to see you less? what does it mean for us?” his words were coming out a little bit more panicked and he reeled himself back in. “how are you coping with all of this?” he asked, realizing that as freaked out as he was right now she had been ten times more shocked when she found out.

Athena had lived many years, had many instances in which she felt strongly for people. When she was very young, it was often. But the more time passed, the less it happened and the weaker the feelings were. So as she watched Nate smile close to her and heard his words, she couldn’t help but feel perhaps this could be more than the rest were. She hoped so. Right now, Athena wanted nothing more than to be this brand of happy and at peace for the rest of her life. She wanted to forget all her inner conflicts and just keep him happy and safe with her. Even though decades of pain and disappointment in life made it hard to be optimistic, she’d never felt so close to believing the best might be able to happen.

A smirk curled her lips when he teased about her tricking him. She returned the playfully teasing with a mockingly innocent, clueless look followed by a soft laugh. “You got me,” Athena joked quietly. Then, when Nate lifted her up, she couldn’t help letting out a small yelp of surprise before laughter spilled from her lips and she held on until she was on the counter. “You’re the one who was about to leave me hanging.” She joked around happily. “That’s just cruel and unusual.” She was grinning all the while, even smiling into the passionate kiss before she let it get more heated. “Mm- you know,” she began, having to keep pausing between breathes. “Last time time we broke,” Pause. “Three glasses in here so,” Pause. “Maybe…”

though athena brought up a good point about not wanting to break any more things (which seemed to be something they were really good at) he found it nearly impossible to pull himself off of her. once the two of them got started like this it was hard to break it, they were like magnets that needed to be kept together. he kissed her for a few more moments before he eventually forced himself to pull away. he caught his breath and grinned at her, “what, you don’t like buying new glassware every time i come over?” he teased as his arms snaked around her back and he picked her up off the counter again. he pressed his lips to hers again as he carried her through the hallways that felt like they were just as much his as they were hers. he sat down on the edge of her bed and kept her straddled around his hips and broke their kiss only to throw his shirt to the ground.

nate woke up in the morning with athena’s head on his chest and smiled to himself. waking up next to her had quickly become the best part of every day for him. he could hardly remember what it felt like to spend a morning alone anymore. she was wearing his shirt from the night before and looked as beautiful as ever as she rested peacefully in his arms. he closed his eyes and had almost fallen back asleep when he felt her moving. his gaze met hers and his lips curled into a smile, “morning babe,” he said in a gravelly voice. his hand worked through her hair gently as he looked at her, “i think that may have been the first night we didn’t break anything before we ended up in here.”

Augustus almost mentioned, in another weak attempt at a joke, that he already knew a therapist and he generally drank copiously with her. He didn’t, but he looked slightly more amused than he had a moment before. At least with this arrangement, there would be less prying. Try as Nate might his eyes did not bore into him with unnerving intensity. “Perhaps you’re right,” he agreed, mildly, sounding as though he was less convinced of this than he was.

Augustus poured himself some more whiskey. “You’ve tried to convince me of this once before. I have to admit it… It helped.“ He sat there, still hesitating because there was no taking back what he said once he said it. "It’s all rather dark,” he muttered.

In the end, he remained vague. “I only bring up my ex because he was the one who reminded me of the… less than pleasant part of my life.” He hesitated. “What happened was… also the reason we broke up. I don’t—” For fuck’s sake, could he not talk about Charlie without his voice wavering? He cleared his throat. “I don’t think what’s happens warrants and intervention from you, really. It’s not like he meant to cause all this.”

nate could tell he was finally getting somewhere with augustus, if he even opened up a little bit nate would have considered it a success. it was impossible to see the other man as intimidating or dangerous like athena had told him he was when he was this broken, so nate felt comfortable letting his guard down with him. he wasn’t at all afraid, despite athena’s very specific and serious warnings.

he heard augustus’ voice falter, and he set his glass on the table to focus more intently on the other man. he tried to follow what augustus explained, but it seemed like it was all very complicated. clearly the ex was causing him distress, but as nate understood it, it was only because he had reminded augustus of a hard time in his life. “so, this encounter with your ex just brought back bad memories?” he asked tentatively, trying to be as careful as possible with his words. “’cause if that’s it we’ve all made mistakes or had bad things happen to us. i obviously don’t know exactly what happened, but if you let the past define who you are now you’ll never move forward in life, ya know?”

Athena grinned at his statement, knowing full well it was true. Her heart beat strong when his eyes glinted with mischief and suddenly she was in the mood to be mischievous as well. But something else in his eyes made her want to just admire them. She paused everything in her thoughts, smiling, just watching him and memorizing his features. She hadn’t been so happy in so long. Her smile widened, just in time for him to push her down. Was it normal to want to give someone the world if she could?

She thought this as his lips went against hers and she arched her back to be closer. But then Nate pulled away and it felt a record scratch moment. Still stuck in her previous moment, Athena blinked in surprise and only got her bearings when she saw his grin. She scoffing, smirking, watching him walk off before following suit. Before Nate could get to the wine she gently pushed him against the fridge and smiled, face close to his. “Thank you for listening,” she said softly. “And thank you. Really.” Her smile became a little less playful and more warm. “For being everything I need. I can’t get over how scary but happy it makes me to want to trust you with everything.” 

She decided then and there to tell him in the morning about Paio and Nadia. Athena felt maybe she had to stop holding back. Unsure yet how to voice everything she wanted to say, Athena instead cupped his cheek and kissed him with every ounce of her affections. 

nate grinned at athena as his back hit the fridge and the words that followed surprised him. he wasn’t expecting her to be so serious with him in that moment, but by what she was saying it seemed as though she felt just as happy as he did. everything about that moment felt perfect, everything about her was exactly what he needed as well. his smile grew as he looked at her, “it’s impossible for you to be happier than i am. you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” there couldn’t have been more truth behind his words, and while nate never thought he would be in this position now he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

he returned her kiss with just as much intention, and as his hands found her waist he let himself smile against her lips. “you tricked me, i was supposed to leave you hanging,” he mumbled, but despite his words he pulled her in closer to him. he broke the kiss to look at her with a crooked smirk, “you’re evil babe. just pure evil.” with that he lifted her up and spun around so she was sitting on the counter next to the fridge. he let a moment hang between them as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear and grinned at her, and then he kissed her with a spark of passion.

The smirk on Augustus’s face waned, going thin and strained. “I guess it did fuck me up,” he said, and only after it was said did he realize the gravity of it. All this time, he never talked about it, all of it, especially not in terms of how it had affected him. Not like that. He never felt quite up to examining the scars too closely. Instead he just lived with them. Ignored them, really.

There had been a time when Augustus thought he had finally moved on. He was even convinced that one day, time would erode the memories. He would forget anything had happened. The hunters would fade, Charlie would cease to exist. He would look back on his being foolish enough to fall in love and laugh. He would rise to his typical greatness.

Now, it seemed pretty clear he never would. He would never achieve the glory he once possessed, not again. What happened, what was done to him, would follow him everywhere. It would drag him down, make his life deadweight.

“It’s…. complicated, Nate,” he said, staring at the far wall. “Do you remember that ex I told you about?”

nate nodded when augustus brought up his ex, “just that you mentioned having one in town.” it made sense that was the thing that had augustus down, with reactions as intense as he was clearly having love was usually to blame. granted, nate didn’t know anything about the relationship and what it had been, but only love could cause someone to be acting as different as augustus was. “i’ve already told you i’d pay him a visit if i need to, that offer still stands.”

he knew that it was probably a sore subject for augustus to talk about, and that’s why he had shut himself in his room rather than going out in the world and just dealing with whatever kind of issues he was having with this other guy. “you obviously don’t have to get into it with me if you don’t want to, but sometimes telling someone else can help you realize your own feelings about shit, you know? i can be like a free therapist who comes bearing booze. can’t imagine it gets any better than that,” he said with a small smile, trying to ease any uncomfortableness that augustus may have been feeling.

Space and time halted in the comfort of that kiss. It felt unbelievable to be wanted this way - to feel like she couldn’t be replaced for once. Maybe it wasn’t going to be true forever, but however long this bliss would last, she felt she’d come out of it changed. To feel at home somewhere was all she ever wanted that somewhere would be someone, then Athena couldn’t deny she’d take that quite happily. There was no way to put the depth of her appreciation into words, so she said it in the returning affections. 

She exhaled slowly through her nose as forehead rested against forehead and her eyes remained closed. Bliss turned to uncertainty once more as those fearful thoughts of vampires and monsters returned. How long would it take for her life to have it’s toll on him? 

Athena’s eyes opened with his and she mustered a small, sad smile. “I can make that promise just as easily as you can. Which is to say… not easy at all.” She offered a more playful smile then. “But I’ll try as long as you do too. And at least if you fail, then I can resort to locking you up in an underwater bubble for the rest of your life.” She joked quietly. “So think of that next time you want to bromance an infamous vampire.”

nate watched as her expression became more relaxed, and she even teased him about the whole situation. an airy laugh escaped him at her threat, “you wouldn’t,” he challenged her with a mischievous look in his eyes. “you’d miss me too much,” in reality it was the either way around. most days he felt like he probably felt stronger for athena than she felt for him even though she had never really given him any evidence of it. he just thought there was no way anyone could feel stronger for another person the way he felt for her. the protectiveness he had over her was something he had never experienced, and if anything ever happened to her he would never be able to forgive himself.

“plus, if you put me in a bubble i couldn’t do this to you,” he said as he pushed her lightly onto her back and ghosted his lips against hers. he kissed her jaw and down her neck as he pressed his body against hers with one hand pulling lightly on her hair. but then he pulled away suddenly with a grin on his face, “that’s all you get ‘cause you threatened me.” he pushed himself off of her and disappeared into the kitchen to refill their glasses of wine.

Athena sighed, leaning away from him a little and looking away. “That’s not your responsibility, Nate.” She looked back at him with a frown. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing that for more than a century. The best way to protect me is by protecting you. That’s also why I don’t want you near someone like Augustus. I will resort to stupid, dangerous things if it means someone I care about is in those situations.” She leaned closer and looked at him seriously. “That’s also why I know it’s unnecessary and even risky to tell you more then what you already know. It’s Catherine. It’s always been her. She hates me and Paio and Nadia are the only reason she hasn’t killed me. But if I get involved with her vampires again, I’m not sure they’d be able to stop her… Augustus is one of those.”

"of course it’s not my responsibility, i know you can take care of yourself. but you know that if anything ever happened to you i would lose it. to keep my sanity i have to know that you’re safe,” the truth behind his words was clear, athena was his everything and he would do absolutely everything in his power to keep her happy and safe. when she leaned back into him again he brought his hand up to hold her face gently, “you don’t have to worry about me. i won’t put myself in harms way. i promise.” he closed the gap between them and pressed a long kiss to her lips, and when he pulled away he kept his eyes closed and rested his forehead against hers. “don’t do anything stupid or dangerous, okay? ‘cause if you do i probably will and then we’ll be stuck in a cycle of stupid and dangerous things.” he opened his eyes and pulled back all the way, his hand falling from her face to her leg. “we have to protect each other from ourselves more than anyone else.”

Augustus made a face somewhere between a smirk and a cringe. He put his glass down and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. “I… don’t know.” he admitted glumly. He looked dejected while he spoke, as if he was disappointed in himself for not believing in Nate’s advice. “I doubt I’m up for it, truthfully. I think I’d not bother flirting and instead do more than my fair share of drinking.” And, though he doubt Charlie spent his time at places like Alastor, the last thing Augustus wanted was to run into him right now.

He might’ve taken the man up on the offer, actually, if he thought Nate capable of properly distracting him. But he’d yet to find something that wasn’t immediately eaten up by his ceaseless misery. “I don’t…. like, showing my face, unless I can…” his expression moved closer to a smirk, and he gave a humorless laugh. “Unless I can intimidate people, really. I feel like it’d be bad for my image to go out just to be miserable someone other than my house.”

a slight frown fell on nate’s lips, if drinking and flirting wasn’t going to work he was out of ideas. that was always his go-to for cheering people up, and for the most part it was temporarily effective. but augustus must have really been in a funk if he didn’t want to go out with nate, drinking was the one thing he could always count on augustus for. “damn, alright. well i definitely don’t need you going to the hospital because you drank so much so let’s just stay here where i can keep a close eye on you.”

he raised his eyebrow as augustus explained his image to nate, “so you want to walk around and be known as the scary guy?” he chuckled and took another sip of his drink, he always just assumed that reputation had created itself, but clearly augustus wanted it that way. “i’ll never understand you, dude.” nate had completely forgotten about athena’s warnings to him, and he was relazed around augustus. as much as he might want to be, the man wasn’t very intimidating in the moment. “whatever happened must have really fucked you up,” he said, treading lightly, “what was it, relationship trouble? work trouble? family shit?”

Monday wore an amused smirk on her face once the blonde had cleared their mutual line of vision. It had been a while since she’d gone out, at least with company, and it had likewise been a while since she’d been in a good mood. “Not complaining at the role-reversal, but I’m hurt. Here I thought you were finally admitting you had the hots for me,” she said, jabbing him lightly with her elbow. She knew very little about Athena. It was a wonder she knew her name at all, and she liked to think it was the result of successful prying. It was hard work, getting to the bottom of Nate’s crush, and it was a rollercoaster of a ride. One minute, it seemed, they were together and the next, suddenly, they weren’t. Rinse and repeat. Now, at least, Nate felt confident in the stability of their relationship. Enough so that he had denied a very sexy blonde. 

Given that he’d not-that-long-ago gotten his ass handed to him by a couple of bitches for cheating, it was a feat that made Monday raise a brow. “Things are getting pretty serious, huh?” She asked, waving the bartender over and ordering another drink. Admittedly, their relationship was a close one without all of the garbage that comes with closeness. Namely, vulnerability. She liked that about Nate. Liked that their relationship maintained an air of casualness, so as to not send her panicking and packing her bags. 

he laughed at her reply, “monday if i had the hots for you i would have made my move ages ago. don’t get me wrong, you’re great and very beautiful, just not my type. you’re a little too edgy for me,” he teased with a sip of his drink. “plus, if i was into you that would just ruin the whole friendship, don’t you think?” monday’s was one he would never jeopardize with a hook-up or anything like that. even before things were serious with athena he knew that he couldn’t mess things up with monday. their relationship was exactly how both of them liked it, distant and carefree.  

at her question he nodded slightly, “well, yeah i would say so. we haven’t labeled it or anything yet, but it’s definitely exclusive and has a girlfriend-boyfriend vibe.” he said with a smile on his lips. he was really happy with where he and athena were, and it was clear in his eyes that he cared about her. “i really like her,” he continued on before taking another sip of his drink, “she’s pretty much perfect.” but he didn’t want to bore monday by talking about his mushy love life, “what about you, have you found your junkie prince yet?” he asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

it had been a little while since nate had just gone out for a night of drinking and fun, and while he knew that monday was much more of a get-drunk-and-high-at-home-then-go-to-bed type he had dragged her along with him. with parker gone, harper mad at him, and augustus in his funk he didn’t have anyone else to bring along. of course there was always athena, but there was something different about going out with your girlfriend (or whatever athena was) then going out with a friend. so, nate and monday had ended up at alastor’s and he had wasted no time in downing a few shots right as they walked through the door. most people hated going to their place of work off the clock, but nate loved it. it was the perfect atmosphere for him to let loose in. 

nate was leaned against the bar ordering another drink when a girl walked up to him who was clearly way too drunk to function. it was clear what she wanted from him, and a couple months ago he would have gladly given it to her, but things with he and athena were getting pretty serious now and no amount of hot drunk blondes would cause him to jeapordize that. he saw monday a couple feet away in the crowd and gave her a panicked look, and when she finally came over nate grinned widely at her. “there you are babe,” he said as he threw his arm over her shoudlers and pulled her in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. as soon as the blonde realized she wasn’t going to get what she wanted from nate she excused herself back into the crowd. nate’s arm fall from monday’s shoulder and he let out a small laugh, “sorry, she was being really persistent and i’m not going to fuck this up with athena so i needed saving. looks like the junkie became the hero for a second.”

With the alcohol poured and Nate settled in, Augustus sat in the chair across from his guest. He held his own glass to his lips without drinking, listening to the man speak. Nate managed to elicit a tiny smile from the vampire, and he breathed out a laugh. “I don’t, unfortunately,” he replied. He didn’t offer anything else in terms of an explanation before he finally started in on his glass of whiskey. Augustus had to admit he was a little surprised that Nate would go out of his way to not only bring him this, but stick around and check in on him. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, yet. This friendship that had bloomed between them, it all felt very precious, which it probably was. Augustus doubted the man would take kindly to his being a vampire if he ever found out.

Still, he was tempted to confide in Nate, if only a little. “Sometimes I just… need some time for myself.” Not entirely untrue, though this bout of isolation wasn’t really the same thing as his typical annoyance of other people. “I was…” he hesitated, again, before continuing, “reminded of a bad time in my life, recently. It’s been difficult to shake that off, is all.”

nate’s lips formed a line as augustus gave a hint as to what had happened, and though it wasn’t much it at least showed that augustus might be on the path to opening up about it. “shit, that’s always hard. it’s impossible to escape the past,” he mused, knowing all too well how someone’s past could haunt them forever. the night terrors he suffered were a direct side effect of his traumatic past, and he was ashamed every day of his history with drugs.

the warning athena had given him made nate think it may have something to do with the vampire in augustus, the killer in him. but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, he had always been someone to give people the benefit of the doubt, and augustus would be no different. until the man gave him a reason to believe he was dangerous, nate would continue to treat him the way he would have treated anyone else. he took a sip before continuing, “i know it can be hard to deal with stuff like that, but i’m not sure the best solution is locking yourself in your house and refusing to talk to anyone. whatever it is i’m sure it’d be easier to work through if you weren’t just sitting in here thinking about it 24/7. i don’t know what exactly happened, but whatever it was i’m sure it’d be better with a couple drinks and a night of shameless flirting, don’t you think?”

Athena nodded slowly, thankful he seemed to be agreeing. She smiled softly and relaxed the tension in her shoulders as Nate continued to speak. She’d become so open and trusting with him, Athena couldn’t remember to be her usual distrustful self. Whatever he said, went. Her lips curled up further at his last comment and the gentle kiss. She put a hand on his cheek. “I try to,” she admitted. It was certainly the truth. But, unfortunately, trouble seemed to adore her no matter what. Her hand went down to his collar. “… And I really am sorry. I don’t want you to lose friends because of me. But… Augustus isn’t friend material and I need to stay safe. Somehow, just being with you… I feel like it’s putting a target on your back. Honestly, I’m still not sure you really understand what you’re getting yourself into here. With me. It’s complicated.”

her words of caution caused a frown to appear on his face, he wanted to tell her so badly about the meeting he had with the guards, but he had promised not to say anything. he just wanted to know what she was facing and why she was in danger so he could better prepare and protect her. “if i don’t understand, tell me.” he said, his hand resting gently on her leg. “tell me what’s going on so i can be ready. i don’t care if there’s a target on my back, because it’s worth it to be with you. but if you’re worried about me, doesn’t it make sense to tell me what you’re so worried about?” his voice was gentle, and of course he didn’t want to force her to tell him anything he wasn’t ready to, but if her safety was in danger he wanted all the information she was willing to give. “how am i supposed to keep you safe if i don’t know what i’m keeping you safe from?” he asked, his expression serious and concerned.

“I have taken a brief… holiday, from the Times,” Augustus muttered. He realized, after saying it, that this would not help his case. Any person who was okay didn’t indefinitely call out of work and disappear from all personable contact. He shrugged, as if this would lessen the implication. “But things seem to be going smoothly without me, believe it or not.” What a pathetic attempt at humor. Augustus ignored this, too, and kept walking, occupying himself with reading the label of the whiskey more closely.

Deciding he was tired of laying about on his couch, and that Nate didn’t have to see the uncharacteristic mess that he’d left in there, Augustus made his way into the dining room instead. He let the bottle clunk down on the table as he continued his walk to a glass cabinet. “Have a seat,” he said as he inspected a seemingly spotless tumbler, then put it back in favor of an even shiner one. “I never use this room but since you’ve insisted I have a guest…” He went back to the table, and slid one of the glasses across the surface toward Nate. “Tell me how you’ve been, then, while we drink.”

hearing that augustus had stepped away from work only confirmed nate’s suspicions that he was doing worse than he was letting on. he knew how dedicated augustus was to his job, and clearly things were really hard if he was letting it come between him and the times. “i thought the place would burn to the ground without you,” he mused with a smile. the other’s attempt at a joke felt forced, but nate laughed in response anyway.

nate sat down and grabbed the glass as it slid toward him, as he looked at the man in front of him athena’s words rang in his head. ‘he’s a killer’ and ‘he won’t hesitate to snap your neck’ played on repeat, but what she had said didn’t match they way augustus was acting. he seemed to be broken, and looked like he could never hurt anyone. he hated that he was doing this behind her back, but his friend needed him (even if he wouldn’t admit it) and he never left someone in need. “well, i’ve been pretty good. work is as busy as always,” he thought about mentioning athena, but decided against it. she clearly didn’t like him, so there was a chance the feeling was mutual. he poured himself a glass and took a sip before continuing, “i’ve missed my most loyal customer, though. the bar just isn’t the same without your chiseled good looks there to keep me going,” he teased with a wink. “you better have a good reason for abandoning me,” he said before taking another sip, hoping that maybe augustus would tell him what was bothering him so much.

Athena frowned, listening as he explained. There was nothing in her that felt good about pushing him away from someone he considered a friend. She could tell Nate actually cared about that psychopath. But she’d learned a lot about Catherine’s henchmen ever since her title came to light. Her new family was something she hadn’t yet talked to Nate about yet and there were many reasons why. Thankfully, right now wasn’t a good time. She kept wanting to push that truth away as much as she could.

So she focused on trying to find the right words. Though, as gentle as she wanted to be, Athena was realistic and often blunt when it came to trying to protect the people she cared about. “Nate, I’m sorry. I don’t want to push you away from people you like. I really don’t, but… Augustus is different. He’s a killer and he’s been that way for centuries. Friendship won’t change that. If Catherine tells him too, he won’t hesitate to snap your neck. Trust me…” She looked at him with more seriousness. “I know the kind of pull she has. And I learned the kind of person he is.” Vague as that was, Athena definitely wasn’t about to explain what happened with her, Hugo and Catherine.

nate flinched at the word killer, flashes of what his parents had looked like after being killed by a vampire took over his mind for a brief second. he had a hard time believing augustus could do something like that, but athena wouldn’t lie to him about something like that. her face was as serious as he had seen it, and he knew she wouldn’t want him to spend any more time with the other man. 

he let out a breath and nodded, showing her he understood. “if you really think he’s that dangerous, the last thing i want to do is go the way my parent’s did.” he hated loosing friends, but seeing her as concerned as she was made him think he needed to make an exception. the comment about catherine made nate stiffen a little bit, and he thought back to the conversation he had with her guards. they had mentioned being worried that someone was trying to hurt her, and maybe this catherine woman was who they had been concerned about. but despite his worries he had followed their request and kept the meeting a secret from athena. if it was for her safety, he would do anything. he brought his mind back to the conversation at hand, “i’ll stay away from him,” he told her and leaned over to press a kiss to her shoulder, “as long as you promise to stay out of trouble too.”