Unravel. 2023 (Nero x male OC)

3.

3rd September, 2 PM

The sound of thin pages turning fills the garage as Jason flips through the magazines he could find in the garage. He's bored but doesn't want to interact with the others. He only has one goal in all of this.

Then the door to the garage opens, revealing Nero with a tray of food. "Hey, how are you feeling",
He asks as he sets the tray down on the small side table next to the couch. "Why do you care", Jason asks finally sitting up on the couch and laying the magazine to the side.
Nero stays unfazed by Jason's attitude, he doesn't want to upset him. "Do you want to talk about it", Nero offers and Jason rolls his eyes. "I'd rather not." Nero shrugs and grabs the plate full of food.
"You haven't eaten all day, right? Take it."
He hands the plate over to Jason who surprisingly gladly takes it.

Nero watches as the black haired male takes a first bite of the warm food. A smile hushes over his lips. "You know, I admire you for wanting to save your friend", Nero says but Jason stays quiet.
"I know how you feel. I tried to save a friend but before I could do something he was killed by the very thing he believed in." Jason stops eating and looks up at Nero. "Sorry to hear that." Nero smiles gently.

He knows that talking to a stranger is difficult but at least Jason is trying.

"That's why I wanted to help you in the first place. We'll find Lapis, I promise." Nero slightly hits Jason's shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up.
He's not good at it but at least he tried.
"Thanks", He suddenly hears Jason say.
"For everything."
Suddenly the door to the house opens once more. "There you are, Nero!" Nero quickly gets up from his seat and turns to Kyrie. "Hey, babe. What's up", He asks nervously.
"The kids want to hear a story. Would you mind reading one to them?" Kyrie smiles at her fiancé who just helplessly looks around the room. Suddenly an idea comes to mind.
"What about Jason? If he's going to stay a while he could make himself useful."
"Excuse me?" Nero and Jason exchange a quick look. Nero grins innocently while Jason looks angry, angry that he was disturbed in his loneliness in the first place.
"That's a great idea", Kyrie calls out. She immediately runs to them and grabs Jason's wrist. She drags him into the house with Nero following behind them silently. All the way inside Jason only looks at Nero with a glare of death. If he could have strangled Nero right there he would have.

Kyrie proceeds to drag Jason into the living room where a few pairs of eyes suddenly stare at him in wonder. "Kids, this is Jason! He'll be staying a while and will be reading your story today", Kyrie introduces the annoyed man and pushes him onto the couch. She also hands him a book to read.
"Have fun!" Kyrie leaves the room, taking all the sunshine and happiness with her. Jason looks at the kids in front of him. He never liked kids, in fact, he doesn't like people in general.

"Fine", He groans and starts to read the book. After about thirty pages the first few children start to fall asleep, maybe from being sleepy or from Jason's monotone reading voice.

As he notices all of the sleeping kids Jason closes the book and lets out a sigh of relief.
"Wow, no one has gotten them to sleep that fast before." Jason jumps a bit at the sudden voice in the room. He finds Nero standing in the living room's doorway with a smirk on his face.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Nero stays silent, his smirk still on his face.
"Since the beginning?" Nero nods. Jason gets up from the couch and walks around the group of sleeping children over to Nero.
"I've been meaning to ask you. Where exactly are we", He asks and Nero raises an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"You mentioned we're a few hours away from Red Grave. So where exactly are we?"

Nero's smirk turns into a smile and he heads for the front door. Jason curiously follows after him.
At the door Nero reveals the small town they currently live in.
"We used to live in Fortuna but with all the Red Grave mess going on we expanded our orphanage services. We hired workers for Fortuna and came here to take care of the few children that were left", Nero explains.

The town is not overly impressive, most people would only pass through, but it's quiet enough to distract the kids from their trauma, at least for now. "Now with your friend opening the portal in Red Grave it was a good idea we came here. Otherwise we might have been too late and you would've ended up as demon food", Nero chuckles.
"Honestly, my town was very different. I've never seen a car or any technology before. It's scary how much the angels didn't want to change. It also makes me think what would have happened if everyone accepted Lapis and his research." Nero looks at the man standing next to him.
Jason is slightly smaller than Nero but only by a few centimeters. It's barely noticeable.
"You really care for him, huh."
"Jealous", Jason says with a smirk.
"I'm taken, remember?" Jason chuckles.

It's the first time Nero sees Jason smiling. His chuckle is more of a hum but even that small tone makes Nero happy.
"Again, thank you for taking me in, Nero."
Nero's eyes widen. Jason finally fully acknowledges him.
A sudden warm feeling enters Nero's gut as they continue to have eye contact. Jason's smile is just so genuine, his soft facial features looking kind and thankful. "Don't thank me yet", Nero says looking away. "We still need to find Lapis."