At first, I'm not sure how to respond to Zane's request. I mean, I've literally never been asked out before, and then there's his reason for doing so. Should I refuse because the relationship request was made because we both want to try one before risking our lives? Is that really a good reason to enter into a relationship?

Then there's the fact that I really don't know him that well and have been crushing on Lucas for longer. Then again, I don't really know Lucas that well, either. But I do know Lucas longer and was wanting to see if my crush on him fades before seriously considering a relationship. Shouldn't I do the same for Zane?

Except Zane isn't looking for a relationship out of love. He just wants to experience it, like we said. It would be completely unfair of me to start a relationship with Lucas just because I want to experience one without even knowing if I actually do like him like that.

It would be unfair to both of them to get into a relationship when they're both obviously used to a lifestyle where they spend money on things I'd never afford without what's considered a high-paying job while I normally have to pinch pennies to feed myself.

On top of all of that, there's also the fact that Lucas is a trainer at the training center I've been going to and Zane is employing me. Wouldn't both of those be inappropriate? Well, I guess if we were in the middle or upper districts it'd be considered more inappropriate. Here in the lower districts, such relationships are perfectly normal, it's just that my parents never liked such things.

"You look like you're torn between accepting and rejecting," Zane interrupts my struggle.

"Was it really that obvious?" I ask.

"Yeah," he answers. "Mind if I ask why?"

I explain to him my reasoning, though I leave out Lucas's name.

"Ah," he says, then thinks over something for a few moments. "So the fact that your partner might die because of his job doesn't bother you?"

As I didn't mention that my other crush is a personal bodyguard, he's definitely asking for himself.

"Yeah," I answer. "I mean, I'm looking into getting such a job, too, so wouldn't be hypocritical of me to expect that willingness of my partner but don't have it myself?"

"True," he responds. "So you feel like you'd be betraying yourself if you agree to go out with me because you know me less than this other guy and are crushing on him pretty hard, yet you don't want to get with him for a few reasons?"

"I-I guess?" I answer.

"You said you've only known him since you started training last Tuesday?" He asks. "After you got the offer and the advance?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"What all have you done with him so far?" He asks.

"We haven't gone that far," I tell him. "I mean, it's evident he likes me, too, but… no. It's remaining professional during training and though it's clear he wants more, he's just trying to be friends right now, probably because he hasn't realized I'm gay."

It's only as I say I'm gay that I realize that I had let Zane know about this so casually, without any real hesitation. He figured it out because of my delayed response, so it's not really that big of a deal because we're discussing my reluctance to go out with him.

"No," he snorts. "I mean when you two hung out. You said you'd done it a couple of times."

"Oh, uh, yeah," I say. "Tuesday was mostly him taking me shopping to get me set up on my meal plans so that I'm not wasting my training. I paid for all of that, though he did buy me dinner before then, and a collapsible wagon to bring purchases home with. Saturday, he bought me dinner after training for… I don't remember, exactly. Then we went to the movies on Wednesday, and that's when I realized he liked me but didn't want to tell me, probably out of worry that I'd quit the center. Then we had lunch after."

"Did he pay for both of those?" Zane asks.

"Yeah, and it makes me feel awful."

"Well," he says. "It seems like this other guy has no issue spending some money on you, Kieran. He probably fell for you as fast as I did, and as fast as you fell for, well, y'know."

As fast as I fell for each of them.

"So," he says. "I'd say see how things go for another week or two, then talk with him if you still like him more."

"You're fine with that?" I ask.

"Yep," he grins. "As long as you hang out with me, too."

I feel like I'm about to enter a battle between the two of them.

"Let's get back to work," he tells me. "If we're lucky, we can get all of the chairs cleaned before the end of the shift."

"Yeah," I respond.

Zane and I get to work, and because we have to scrub pretty hard on some of the chairs, dry them off, stack them again, and then move them all back into the conference hall and against the walls, it takes us nearly all of the remaining couple of hours we have. There are over two hundred chairs to clean, after all, and I'm not sure how the kids got this stuff set in so hard.

Once we finish, Zane checks his phone for the time.

"Ten to five," he tells me. "Not enough time to get started on another room."

"That's fine," I tell him. "Even just the one room is a bigger pay than I've ever had for a single job."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Alright," he nods. "So I was told to ask you, should you do a good job today – and I know Dad and Zach will agree that you did after they see our effort – if it's okay if we permanently request you to help deal with this room. Only this room, every Saturday. Three hundred dollars. At least, for as long as we don't block that group from coming again. So only as long as it's bad like this. And as a bonus, I'll help you out so that you can actually get it done at some point each day."

"Sure," I answer immediately.

The job isn't really that bad, and while I'm not planning on dating Zane just yet, he's still good company based on our small talk today. As long as he doesn't try to actively make a move on me, I won't have an issue working with him again.

"Alright!" He says. "Thanks for the help today, Kieran. I'll make sure to contact the agency and let them know."

"Thanks," I say.

"And now we're both off the clock," he tells me. "Well, technically I have a few more minutes, since I get off at five. But you are. We never did finish the discussion that got interrupted by Zach."

"The discussion?" I don't remember what it was about.

"Yup!" He smiles. "About our abilities? I'd asked if I could see yours, you mentioned you lose your close using it, and I mentioned it's a bit, ah, difficult for me to stay fully-clothed."

"Oh, right," I say. "Uh… I don't know what else we could discuss?"

"Want to see my ability?" He asks.

"Is this some attempt at seducing me?" I ask.

"Nope," he grins. "That would just be a bonus, but like I said earlier, Kieran, I'm looking for a relationship, not a hookup, and with a guy that would understand I might be gone for good each time I leave for the job when I accept it."

"So you are accepting it?" I ask.

"Yep," he answers. "I've done some martial arts training, it's kept me fit. Family thing, really, so it's rather decent. Been thinking about getting professional lessons since I was made the offer, just to improve my skills. Unfortunately, almost everyone who teaches it either charges a few hundred dollars a month at two lessons a week or is too far away. I did find one place that was close by, but they told me it was only for exclusive club members."

I found out yesterday that it's not really kept secret that they teach martial arts at the center I go to as some people show up dressed in their gis already. Most of those who find out and make an inquiry tend to be informed it's an exclusive opportunity given only to some members. Only if it's someone the center trusts do they let them know about the gold membership.

It sounds like he found out about Lusvaris Training Center, but was told the standard script for new people when he investigated the costs.

If I talk to Lucas about Zane, he might be willing to make an exception to the whole rule about letting people sign up for the gold membership new, just like he did with me. Maybe.

"What's your budget?" I ask.

"Uh," he thinks for a few moments. "Well, if I get the job, it goes up. Right now, I'm looking at about seven hundred dollars in free spending money beyond my normal expenses, and that's taken me awhile to save up. The cheapest martial arts place I found was about three hundred a month, and I've been researching places to train powers. The nearest one I can find is in the middle districts, and it's five hundred a month. I'm not even sure if they could help me with my powers, anyway. I mean, it's been in my family for quite a few generations, and we've all basically done the same thing."

I know Lucas said that generally speaking, people learn additional abilities over time, but I'm guessing that if a family doesn't know they have other abilities, and everyone always discovers the same power, they probably only focus on that one.

"Actually!" Zane's face lights up. "I was thinking while we were talking, Kieran, but you mentioned you were training both? At the same place or different?"

"At the same," I answer. "It's an, ah, exclusive membership perk."

"Strange," he says. "That sounds like what I was told at-"

"Lusvaris Training Center?" I ask.

"Yep," he answers, then frowns. "Wait. They train powers there?"

"I feel much less bad about taking a few years to learn that," I say. "When someone who is fifteen minutes away from it every day didn't know."

"Huh," he says. "How much does it cost? I can't imagine a company would pay a high price for training for someone who they haven't even employed. Wait, I can't imagine a company paying a high price for someone to train themselves unless they're in the upper districts."

"The cost is your budget," I tell him. "All of it. But it is exclusive. I was thinking I could maybe talk to my trainer and see what he says, considering your circumstances."

"How did you get the exclusive membership?"

"The owner considers it an investment," I answer. "Give me the exclusive membership access so that I can sign up for martial arts lessons, and if I get the job, hope that I continue training there, thus sending more money their way each month. I think he's also hoping that coworkers of mine, if I get the job, will check them out as well. That place cannot be cheap to upkeep with how good everything looks to be."

I'm not going to mention that I'm getting the martial arts for free, because that might an additional expectation that I doubt will be met.

"As for your power," I tell him. "You can do a consultation in advance there. It's ten dollars for a two-hour session. Or if you get a membership, they'll give it to you as part of the membership. You can work with a personal trainer once a month, and regularly if you advance your membership to the silver tier. Then, of course, advancing to gold, if they let you, gives you access to paying for the martial arts."

"Okay," he says. "If you don't mind waiting for me to change, want to walk there together? I want to check it out. I can't believe I didn't know they trained power users."

"Sure," I pull my hoodie from around my waist and pull it on, then pull on my bag. "Meet you in the lobby?"

"Yep," he answers as we walk to the elevator together. "I'll go down with you just 'cause it's an elevator, then I'll be back in a few minutes."

We get into the elevator and take it down, then I wait for him in the foyer. Hopefully, me doing this isn't a problem. They might refuse him for the gold membership, but I get the feeling he won't be too disappointed if they don't. The fact that he was wanting to make sure he could get lessons for using his ability better – despite having generations of knowledge regarding it passed on to him – on top of the martial arts suggests to me that he wants the power lessons more.

Does that mean he thinks there might be more to his ability than he's been taught and is hoping a proper trainer can help him? If so, then he's definitely going to find out that's true.

Zane eventually returns, and we begin the walk to the center. He's dressed in grey sweatpants and a maroon hoodie, and looks pretty damn nice in it, too. Am I helpless?

"Can I ask you something?" He asks as we walk.

"Sure."

"What's your opinion of the Patron?"

Here we go again. The first cute guy I crushed on hates the Patron. That's the only flaw I've found in him over the last week and a half. Please, please, please, let Zane not hate the Patron, too.

"I support him fully and understand that he has his reasons for being as distant as he is," I answer. "And only dealing with things that could actually disrupt society, such as riots, overthrows, anarchy, and other large-scale things. I also believe it's unreasonable for someone to expect a god to do anything for us and think he should do more for us than he's already doing. Isn't living on the back of his pet enough already?"

"Oh, thank goodness," he lets out a relieved breath, his breath fogging up when it meets the frigid air. "I forgot to check that before asking you out. The way you went off with that, I take it your trainer, ah, has a pretty serious flaw?"

"Just the one I've found so far," I nod. "We've argued about it a couple of times already, mostly because of the Blond Boy Basher popping up on the news both of the times we ate dinner."

"And you're still crushing on him?"

"Everything else about him is fine."

"Well," he grins. "I can accept that."