Almost been three years since I updated. Three years. Whew. I wonder if anyone still reads this...

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"We're closed. You know what that means, right? It means you need to leave. Now." Adam pushed Fenrir towards the door, but it was useless, like trying to move a tank. Fenrir wouldn't move unless he wanted too.

Everyone else was gone, leaving the clean-up to Adam. Even Tom, the one person who Adam would trust to get him out of this situation left half an hour earlier. They were alone, just the two of them. The perfect opportunity for Adam to tell Fenrir off, to tell him to stay away from him, forever. That he had no desire to be part of whatever organization, or cult, Fenrir was part of. But when he look at Fenrir, saw his strength, his overbearing height, he couldn't form the words.

Fenrir just looked on in half amusement, half enjoyment, his arms crossed. "How long are you going to insist on touching me?"

Adam, noticing the clear pleasure in his expression stopped. To cover up his sudden embarrassment, he passed a broom to Fenrir. "Well, if you insist on staying, you might as well help." Fenrir smirked, taking the broom, and with measured, even strokes, starting sweeping.

Adam gaped, not expecting Fenrir's help. However, he would take any help he could get; he hated cleaning up. Shaking his head, he gathered dirty plates and glasses from the tables, his hands trembling, not knowing what else to say. Fenrir, though, didn't seem in a conversing mood either. Soon the room fell into a semi-comfortable silence, with Fenrir humming a tune unfamiliar to Adam.

It reminded him of Brent for a moment, and if he refused to glance in Fenrir's direction, he could fool himself that it was Brent, and not Fenrir, that was assisting him. It helped somewhat, but Brent's humming was annoying, often off-key, whereas Fenrir's tune was in perfect pitch and harmony. Fenrir's step was also heavier than Brent's, and every now and then, when Fenrir neared Adam, he could smell the unique scent of feral nature. It made the hairs on Adam's nape stand up.

Adam focused on the tune, allowing it to sooth away his nervousness. Although, in his mind, he would associate the sudden calmness with wiping down the tables and not with Fenrir. The two of them worked well together, no words were necessary, they did what needed to be done. After Fenrir was done sweeping, he mopped, as Adam finished wiping down the barstools.

At last drying his hands on hand towel, Adam spoke up, "Fenrir, why are you here, helping me?"

"Questioning the help? Not very wise, I may just stop and leave the rest to you."

"Oh, really? That would be great actually. I didn't want you here to begin with. No seriously, it's strange seeing you do grunt work. I would expect you had a bunch of underlings at your beck and call, as you sat on your high throne doing…whatever it is you do."

Adam didn't anticipate Fenrir's sudden bark of humor. Damnit, it wasn't his intention to make Fenrir laugh. Just the opposite, in fact. "I'm not trying to be funny…."

"Oh, I know. It's just not far off the mark." Fenrir closed the distance between him and Adam, his much larger hand encompassing Adam's to retrieve the washcloth, lingering in a caress before he scrubbed the remaining grime from the bar. "However, I never enjoyed it when everyone abandons the lone man to do the dirty work. It always left a bad taste in my mouth. Mind telling me why they leave everything to you?"

Adam quickly retreated to the other side of the bar, rubbing his hand where Fenrir had touched. "Because I'm an expert cleaning man, doncha know?" The flippant answer only caused Fenrir to raise an eyebrow, prompting Adam to continue.

"Nah, it's because of him, the manager. He hates me. He knows I'll always be around so he makes sure to leave the worst to me. He hates it even more when my co-workers try to assist me, so they don't. I don't blame them. I mean, if I were them, I would leave as fast as possible too. You don't want him catching you around when you're not supposed to be here. He would just put you to work, even if there's nothing to be done. Or make you redo everything again. Hell, the last time that happened, he made us cleaned the bathrooms with only a toothbrush. Kept us here an extra two hours and without paying us for overtime. The other guy quit right after that. And the manager, he just keeps pulling the same shit."

"Sounds like someone needs to be put him in his place." Fenrir cracked his knuckles, an eager grin on his face.

Somewhere inside, Adam knew Fenrir wasn't joking, but he couldn't help returning the grin, just for a moment. But then he remembered who he was talking to and what happened earlier that day. He didn't know what Fenrir was capable of, didn't want to find out, and here he was telling him his whole life story. He needed to get out of here, and quick. Or preferably for Fenrir to leave.

Hoisting two full trash bags up, without a word, Adam left for the dump just outside the back door. He hoped Fenrir would be gone by the time he came back. Taking a breather, he was glad to notice that Fenrir didn't follow him at least. But like everything else that day, things just didn't work out in his favor. By the time he came back, Fenrir was still there sitting, legs raised up on a table, acting for all the world like he owned the place.

"A man just walked out the front door. Was that the manager?"

Unconsciously, Adam touched the fading bruise on his face. And said, not without a certain amount of bitterness, "My dad."

Fenrir surged forward, but his hand was light as he touched the healing skin. "And this? I wondered about it…"

"It doesn't matter," came Adam's clipped reply.

Fenrir shifted, uncomfortable, for the first time unsure on how to proceed. "Oh, but it does." He said no more, letting an awkward silence follow.

Fine then. "You want to see something? Come with me." Adam led the way out of the room and up the darkening staircase, knowing the steps by heart. The only other person to ever step foot in the apartment was Brent and that was once, and only for a short time. A very short time. Brent left in a hurry that day, and Adam didn't see him for a month. Most people were uneasy with Adam's situation, and he thought he would never see Brent again after that…

"Welcome to my humble abode." Adam swept the door open, bowing Fenrir in, missing the leer on his face. He didn't miss the immediate look of disgust though, as huge whiffs of cigarettes and beer ambushed them. Feeling wickedly satisfied with that expression, he piped "Do you like it?"

The only light in the room came from the television, half hiding the grime and smashed bottles on the floor. But Fenrir didn't need any more light than that, he registered everything in an instant. Not that there was much to see. "You live here?"

"Yep, my home." Adam was tickled to see Fenrir couldn't quite keep the repulsed look from his expression, although he was trying. Adam didn't know why he bothered, unless it was some high English breeding that kept him from showing his true emotions.

"This is unacceptable. I can offer you much better than this junkyard." Fenrir hesitated, "If you would come with me, that is?"

"What the hell are you? My knight in shining armor? Oh please."

Fenrir continued, unabated, "I can offer you a home. A sparkling clean one. Good, home-cooked meals. Protection-"

Adam's sharp, howling laughter cut him off. "Protection? From what? Wolves? That guy from earlier? You're the one I need protection from. Oh, that's very funny."

Fenrir persisted on, Adam barely hearing him through his laughter. "Oh Fenrir, just give up."

"I can offer…" Fenrir paused, and whispered, soft as a summer breeze. "A family."

Adam's laughter died on his lips, like all of a sudden someone had pressed the mute button. The stillness that trailed after became unbearable. Adam choked, "What did you just say?"