Jaspar woke up feeling more angry than numb which was a relief after the previous night. He was as normal wrapped up in Elison's arms and surrounded by the man's scent but his stomach was grumbling unhappily. The conversation about burning people alive being a kill type had made him feel sick to the bone. It was a sick which came with a painful jolt as a reminder of what kind of a world he now resided in.
A world where apparently the men would happily stand up to stop a boy being beaten up but did not blink at the idea of someone being killed in such a gruesome manner. Just because the men of the Rook were kind to Jaspar did not mean they were good men. Justice, Leo and Elison had all warned him time and time again, the men who drank at the Rook were part of the underbelly and outside of the Rook were very dangerous men. These were men who were respected from fear of what they would do but what they could do.
Jaspar could not trust them. Shockingly even Leo had been almost accepting of the idea that burning someone alive was an acceptable way to kill someone. Jaspar felt the sickness rise again as he realised what he had just through. There was never an acceptable reason or way to kill someone, regardless of what the person had done and Jaspar couldn't let himself forget that.
He needed to get out of there. Jaspar could only hope the plans Justice was making could be expanded to him as well. Jaspar was almost scared to bring it up because he was never sure if they were alone to ask and he didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.
Fully awake now and his stomach clenching unhappily, Jaspar slowly rolled out of Elison's arms and sat on the edge of the mattress. He was shirtless that morning and while he hadn't cared the night before, he felt more conscious of it this morning. All ideas of teasing and flirting with Elison were currently gone while his stomach still felt nauseous. A cold draft blew over his shoulders, making him shiver. He needed a top before he could go downstairs for breakfast.
Shifting, he moved in the direction of the drawers and pulled out some clothes from the bottom drawer, the one he knew was where Justice had put his clothes. Most days he had let Elison dress him in the clothes which had appeared. His hands pulled out some random clothes, hands moving over the fabrics searching for textures he recognised.
"You should really wait for me to help you dress," Elison commented sleepily from the bed. Jaspar wasn't surprised the man had woken up, Elison seemed to wake up at Jaspar's slightest movement. Most likely Elison was watching him with a big grin of amusement by the tone of his voice which only made Jaspar want to snarl at the man. He was in no mood to be someone else's entertainment.
"I can dress myself," Jaspar growled darkly.
"You can't see what colours you are holding or the pattern on them," Elison pointed out calmly, still sounding like he was enjoying himself.
Jaspar felt his cheeks heat up with a sudden flare of anger. "Well maybe today I don't care," he snarled, tugging a t-shirt on. He shoved some shoes on, not about to walk on the Rook's floor without something on his feet and stomped out of the room angrily.
"Be careful on the stairs!" Elison called after him, not apparently about to get out of bed and run after him.
Jaspar fumed, exhaling furiously before carefully walking down the stairs and into the Rook. His hands moving down the smooth wooden rail in the narrow staircase. He was calmed slightly by the time he had reached the door which led him in the bar area.
"Morning," Donny singsonged from his corner, Jaspar moving to his normal seat. "You look very bright this morning," the man said with a slight tease in his voice. "I heard you're the reason we can't swear this morning?"
"Morning," Jaspar nodded. "What are you on about?" he asked dryly, lifting an eyebrow.
"The underage kid in our ranks," Donny chuckled.
"Nathan's still here?" Jaspar frowned. He had assumed the bar would have kicked the boy out at the earliest possible moment.
"What are you wearing?" Leo demanded, interrupting Donny before he could answer that question, practically slamming the plate of breakfast down in front of him. It was a full English breakfast that morning, Jaspar could smell the baked beans.
"What I put on," Jaspar muttered sulkily, digging into the food, enjoying the familiar taste of home even though he was currently far from it at the moment. "Apparently something bright. Got a problem with that?"
"That line only works if you bad enough to be a threat," Leo sniffed unimpressed. "You look ridiculous. Go back upstairs and get that lazy slob of a bodyguard to pick a good outfit out for you!" he demanded like Jaspar had offended him somehow.
"Fuck you," Jaspar said darkly, not about to go back upstairs to ask Elison for help with his outfit. He was blind not inept. "I can dress myself," he hissed before stuffing his face with bacon. Several people around the room hooted amused at this, Jaspar not one to swear normally and really Leo was one of the few people he could get away with swearing at. Leo let out a growl of his own.
"Boys, do we have a problem?" John's voice cut into the conversation. "Jaspar please be careful of what you are saying. I do not like swearing from my boys."
Jaspar frowned. "When did I become your boy?" he said dryly, mouth moving before his brain really kicked in to stop him. Leo inhaled sharply and Jaspar realised that was possibly not the thing to ask someone who was currently looking after him. The power balance between Calder and John was still uncertain to him and clearly not quite what he had first assumed.
A hand ran through his hair. "Do you want me to answer that question Jaspar Tinman?" John asked in a light tone but with an unhidden layer of intimidation and warning. John was not happy with Jaspar for that question and angry and ill as Jaspar felt, he was smart enough not to poke the bear with a stick.
"No sir," Jaspar gulped, suddenly having the image of a dark green wolf looming over him growling. Its red eyes felt like it was burning them into his soul. John's magic was surrounding him tightly, not hurting or trying to press into him but there.
"Good boy," John hummed, kissing Jaspar's forehead which sent cold shivers down Jaspar's back. The image of a wolf faded from his mind but there was a dark feeling on the back of his neck. Like sharp teeth digging against his skin. John's hands pulled him up and John sat down before pulling him on his lap like Elison normally did. "No more swearing," John tapped Jaspar's nose. "If nothing else Nathan is still young."
"I'm seventeen not seven," Nathan's voice muttered from a side, a good dose of fear in his voice but apparently the boy had a backbone. Or possibly was fed up with being called a child.
"Still need to change that outfit," Leo muttered
"Leon Iglesias stop complaining about the outfit. He will change after breakfast like a normal person," John said, not happy with Leo either. Jaspar felt a lightly dark satisfaction at Leo being scolded. He smirked, and John patted his thigh in a clear warning not to be too smug. Shifting unhappily, Jaspar started eating again.
"I wouldn't complain about being considered a kid here," Donny commented to Nathan. "You wouldn't be getting the treatment you are if you were an adult. You get special protection for being under eighteen."
John coughed loudly. "Who is ignorant and shall remain so," he warned. "When it's 9 and the streets are considerably safer Nathan is free to go home." Jaspar really wished he knew where exactly the Rook was in the city. By the sounds of it, it had some civilian presence during the day to make it considered 'safe' but not at night.
"Like I haven't guessed this place isn't exactly above board," Nathan said dryly.
"You don't need to know any more than that," John said firmly, a hand resting on Jaspar's thigh. It wasn't doing anything but Jaspar was almost painfully aware of the weight of it. John had sat Jaspar on his lap as a show of power and control and Jaspar knew that. "Hopefully you will never find your way back here and live your life blissfully unaware of this place."
Jaspar shifted uncomfortably remembering the vision. Pushing his plate of food away as the smell of burning flesh filled his nose again. Even if he had not been there, the visions made everything so vivid now that he could not see. His stomach twisted again and he leant against John limply. John's arm hooked around him tightly, John humming into his hair, no doubt aware of what was running through Jaspar's mind.
Hopefully indeed.
At least Jaspar knew John was a stickler for rules. Call John evil, moral dubious or something else, he was followed his own code and that code meant he wouldn't sit back and let Nathan die so young in such a way. Jaspar could at least know that John would try to stop it. Properly to enslave the man as that seemed to be John's thing but he wouldn't let Nathan burn. Which was worse, Jaspar wondered. Being burned alive or working for John? Jaspar let out a wordless prayer to the gods that if even if he could not be saved from his fate, Nathan could.