When Things Changed

Enjoying that warm hand in his grasp, Asterix tried to steady his breath as he closed his eyes and just rubbed the chilly limb in his grasp. He was naturally that little bit warmer, as he was after all covered in fur on his legs and down his back, and it made these times all the nicer to enjoy while he could. Thatcher wasn't complaining either, nuzzling into the mass of hair but refraining from anything he deemed too much. He enjoyed their time together, but he was aware that Asterix was only 14 while he was already 18 and considered a young adult by society's standards. He didn't seem to need to worry too much as the other was more interested in the fluffy aspect, testing out the waters he could only guess.

"Oh, something else did happen." Remembering what he considered a minor occurrence as he stared at the small gathering of gremlins who made such big eyes at him, Thatcher didn't consider it a life changing event and it had slipped his mind.

"What was it? Did your parents come back to visit?" Enjoying the feeling of safety even while in the cold, Asterix didn't move much but did acknowledge the statement.

"No, they never come home to see me." He was still bitter about this, but he knew with time he'd care less for his parents. “The gang that is next to the city, to the east, they deemed me their new leader. The little gremlins just didn’t want to take no as an answer. I will see the territory and hide out tomorrow, officially anyways.”

Soaking up this information at first, Asterix’s more lax posture suddenly seemed to tense up. Enough of a change that Thatcher seemed worried and nuzzled into him in an attempt to calm the male even if he wasn’t sure why he was no longer relaxed and was sending off his fight or flight signs. He didn’t move enough to signal the ones at the gate that something was wrong, and he hoped to not as that would set everything off on the wrong foot.

“Thatcher, I’m in control of this area with my family. That makes us rivals.” He spoke calmly, as Thatcher seemed confused by it all.

“What?” Was all Thatcher could manage.

Asterix was rather quiet about what he and his family really did, but a feeling of betrayal was coming over him all the same. He knew there was a chance something like this would happen, they were so fond of the light haired male and his bossy but uncaring ways. That didn’t mean Asterix wasn’t hoping it would take longer or that Thatcher would decline it. Thinking about it more though, he had no reason to turn it down. He wasn’t too privy to how to handle a gang and had been asking for advice when they came to him.

It all made sense, but that didn’t mean Asterix wanted to accept it any less. Why couldn’t it have been a few more years? When he was the one who made those choices of who was an enemy and who was an ally.