Nigel had thought his life would begin and end one way, he was the bad man from Bucharest, a near urban legend and the story of his life could only unfold the way it always did for men like him. The way of violence always a breath away from staring down some greedy cunts pistol, his own needs always on the edge of consuming him whole. Then he met Gabi, after she came into his life his thoughts about himself began to change he began to think that while his life had begun mired in the shit and piss of the worst of humanity maybe it would end in peace. Until the violence had intruded on that part of his life as well. His angel pulled away from him and looked at him with fear and disgust, she turned towards someone who was the opposite of everything he was, someone weak and so needy he was greasy with it. She made him think that maybe the life she had shown him where he was worth something was all an illusion crafted by her to gain something that she wanted. Money. Power. Just more of the same.

Now it was all something different. 

Different man, a man worse than his legend used to whisper about. Different country, one filled with more lost souls fiending for something more in the dark of the night. Different Angel, one that was real and true to him unlike her.

When he had first met Adam Raki it was less than a month after the death of his once beloved Gabi and her cunt of a fling Charlie. He had thought once that he could never hurt Gabi, that he would rather cut off his own hands than ever fill her eyes with fear, then she broke his fucking heart. She had been his angel once, her music soothing him and giving him peace in a world at war. Now his peace was found in different sounds, in moans and pleas, it fit him much better than she ever had.

The boy had been gorgeous and naive and honest enough to both hurt and sooth his aching soul. He had a routine and a certain way of living his life, a predictable and steady pattern to his day to day movements that eased all his old anxieties and worries. He never had to guess or second guess where Adam was or who he was with, Adam himself told him and even wrote it all down for reference and any time he checked to see his darling boy was always exactly where he said he would be. 

There were no lies with Adam, no secrets, only a pattern and a routine. 

But Nigel knew that routines only became routines out of repetition and practice so he set about changing those patterns of his new beloved darling boy Adam. The shy boy he had once been would never fit into the life that Nigel chose to live but that could be changed so easily.

He started by breaking down the old routines bit by bit, pushing his boundaries a little at a time, explaining that the old ways were for when his father was alive and now he would need new ones. He would distract him until his schedule was off by a few minutes, then an hour, then a day. The resulting tantrums were a bit unpredictable but he used that to his advantage pointing out how Adam’s own behavior could be a deviation from the set routine of any given day. Soon he was tempting the boy to eat different foods once they were at a different time, mac and cheese was for dinner at seven but they were having dinner at eight so they should try something else instead. He kept things similar at first, before leading him farther and farther from what he had always known into a different world.

Soon he was broadening his comfort levels with new places. He wanted to share his life with Adam and he couldn’t do that if Adam wouldn’t even try to be a part of the life he had already built for himself. At first the club was too loud, too crowded, too much for him but he got more and more comfortable as the days blended together. He started with coming by when the place was closed filled with only a few of the staff setting up for the onslaught of drunken idiots, then he would stay until the early hours of opening when there were only the barflies desperate for a drink, and now he could stay the whole night as long as he was up in Nigels office or had his ear plugs in to muffle the loudest noises.

Then he was introducing him to new people like Darko and some of his lieutenants or employees at the bar. These people were nothing like the ones his father had surrounded him with, but Nigel showed him how much fun he could have being around new people sometimes. He made sure that everyone knew to let Adam ramble on about space and to cater to his set ways and needs. Nigel was the only one allowed to push him towards change.

Before long Adam’s routine had become whatever Nigel told him it was, if Nigel didn’t tell him to do something other than the obvious then Adam didn’t do it. Unlike Gabi he was more comfortable that way, the outside world was messy and making decisions was daunting and scary so the more decisions that Nigel took out of his hands the happier he was. As long as he was allowed his time with his stars and his lunch meetings with his father’s friend Harlan remained unchanged he surrendered himself completely. 

It was freeing for them both.