Atlas smiled, nodding. He took Nikolas' hand without any hesitation and laced their fingers. "Yup!" He took the packs of pop-tarts and handed one to Nikolas so that they could head out. It was pretty late in the morning and the sun was shining through all the windows, it was honestly beautiful. Atlas loves morning sun quite a bit, it's just friendlier to him.
Nikolas grabbed the other pack that Atlas handed to him, then hooked his car keys around his pinky finger as they passed the stand where he put them. "I'm not sure about the surprise Tess has for me," he murmured as he opened the front door for them both, eyes drifting off to think about who she could've meant by 'didn't listen to him.' There were so many people that Nikolas knew, both male and female, it was hard to figure out who he could've not listened to.
"Well, it can't be something bad, right?" Atlas asked, looking up at Nikolas. As they got outside, he took a deep breath of the fresh air. The morning was always a good time. It's a new start and everything seems to be flourishing at that time. It was even better where they were, the air was clear and not polluted in the slightest.
"If she's that excited about it," Nikolas mused with a slight wince, "it's debatable." The wince turned into a soft laugh, and he tugged Atlas closer to sneak a kiss to his cheek while he savored the fresh air. "I guess we'll see. Hopefully she'll be too distracted by you to do anything potentially 'bad' as a surprise." Then again, if the twins were there, then Cinthia would probably prevent anything stupid being done. Probably. Depends on her mood and how bored she is.
Atlas giggled. "Well, we'll just have to see. I hope your friends like me… I mean I don't know why they wouldn't. But I'm still a little nervous." He said softly, leaning his head on Nikolas' shoulder. If Nikolas' friends didn't like him, he would end up feeling kind of bad about being his boyfriend. He wouldn't want him to feel like he had to choose between friends or Atlas. Of course, Atlas was thinking too deep into it so he tried, with little results, to not worry about it.
Nikolas glanced down at Atlas, then let go of his hand to wrap his arm around his boyfriend's waist, holding him close. "They'll love you, Atlas. They don't dislike people right off the bat, just keep them a couple of yards away so they don't get hurt. I highly doubt they'll do that to you, though. You don't give off those sorts of vibes," he added with a soft smile. "Plus, talk music with most of them, and you'll be their best friend forever."
Atlas smiled up at Nikolas. That did make him feel better, however, he was still a little nervous. He pushed it back and tried not to worry about it anymore. "Thank you, that does make me less nervous… But let's go before they get angry at us for being too late." He said, giggling a little at the end. He looked back at the treehouse, smiling, as they headed to Nikolas' car.
Tugging Atlas towards the passenger side of the car, Nikolas hummed with a smile. "Would it make you feel better if I tell you that they're even worse with their impulses than you are?" he asked jokingly, letting go of his boyfriend's hand to open the door for him. "Probably why I'm more tolerant of it than most people." He didn't want Atlas to be nervous, but it was reasonable for him to be. He was meeting new people that were practically Nikolas' family. Even Nik was nervous about the surprise Tess had for him.
"Ahh, I heavily doubt that… but I guess I'm gonna have to believe you since you know both them and me pretty well." Atlas said, smiling as he sat down in the passenger seat. He looked at the treehouse through the window. He was still blown away by it and he still didn't want to leave it. That was one of the best nights he's had in a while.
Nikolas laughed softly, then leaned down to press a kiss to the side of Atlas' head. "You'll see when you meet them." He then stood up and closed the door before rounding the car and sliding into the driver's seat. "The studio isn't too far. This place is about halfway between where I used to live and where I currently live, so it shouldn't be that long of a drive," he told the other, starting the car and twisting around to watch where he was going as he backed up, the heel of his palm steering the wheel.
Atlas nodded, smiling as he watched Nikolas go around to the driver's seat. He watched as the treehouse shrunk in the window. "Great! I'm really excited." He said. He had left his phone in the car overnight, so he picked it up and checked the messages and missed calls. His mood instantly dropped, there were many, many missed calls and texts from both the manager and the producer. Atlas just looked at his phone for a second, not looking at the texts or listening to voicemails. He let out a small breath and powered off his phone, setting it down again.
Nikolas glanced over at Atlas, assessed his sudden change in mood, and wordlessly reached out and laced their fingers together as he turned back towards the front and turned the car around to leave the treehouse and head back to the main road. He had a feeling that he knew what caused the sudden shift in his mood, but he wouldn't bring it up or point it out. Instead, he opted for asking a different sort of question. "What do you know of Theresa Hunt, from the public?"
((Rough overview of her: dancer, model, pop-ish singer, brash, strong-minded, has a Youtube channel where she interacts with fans–live QnA's–and showcases dance videos))
Atlas smiled a little, glancing at their fingers for a second. He then thought about Nikolas' question, looking at the scenery go by out the window. "Hmm, well I've seen some of her dance videos and she's really good at it. Um, I've heard some of her music, first on the radio and I didn't know it was her for a while. It's all but impossible that I've seen her on a magazine cover or an ad or something. But I can't put my finger on it." He explained. A face wasn't coming to mind right away, but he knew the second he saw her he'd know who it was.
Nikolas smiled faintly. "So basically everything but the she-devil I had to grow up with, gotcha," he said with a hint of a laugh. He ran his thumb over Atlas' knuckles in a soothing back and forth pattern. "I doubt you've heard anything about the twins. They might be two of the four kids of some pretty powerful business owners, but most of what they do is hush-hush and well-placed, thinly-veiled threats when needed. They're usually more tactful with their words though, and can get the right message across pretty easily without resorting to that."
Atlas nodded as he listened to Nikolas, giggling once or twice. He thought it was kind of an interesting group of friends that Nikolas had, but he was still excited to meet them. Maybe he'd actually have some friends, for the first time since high school. And most of his friends at that time were toxic anyway. Slowly, some houses were starting to come into sight as they got closer to the city. A smile rested on Atlas' face as they continued on the road.
Nikolas sighed as he looked at the houses they passed, searching for the correct one as they weren't located directly in the city. "And that leaves Kit and Ryker. Kit's the oldest, a year older than me, and Ryker's a year younger than me. The former is a bit more laid back, but that doesn't mean he's not going to partake in questionably stupid stunts. He just doesn't get super rowdy or let people under his skin. Usually pisses people off when they don't get the reaction they want while getting insulted at the same time." He conveniently ran out of time as he pulled up to the house, not mentioning Ryker. However, that might be a bit of an issue if he didn't break it to Atlas right now. Nikolas drummed his fingers on the wheel after he shut off the car, then looked down and said, "Ryker's my ex."
Atlas continued listening to Nikolas, watching the scenery go by through the window. As they pulled into a parking area, he looked straight ahead, a mix of excitement and nervousness rising. Before Nikolas parked the car he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to him. He then watched as Nikolas finished. Atlas nodded slightly to himself. "Ahh I see, that's what you meant by him 'giving you the gay', or whatever you said? That's cool that you guys are still friends and, like, are cool about it."
Nikolas blinked, then looked over at Atlas. "I was expecting a different reaction," he admitted, then leaned over and kissed Atlas with a soft smile. "Yeah, he has a fiancé now, and I have you. Things weren't all that good, though, since I kinda disappeared on him without an explanation after getting kicked from the system. We worked things out though, so he's back to his obnoxious normal." He was so relived that Atlas wasn't hung up on him and Ryker being exes. It made this introduction so much easier for him.
Atlas smiled, kissing him back "Well, everyone… almost everyone has exes and there's nothing you or I can do about that. So I personally don't see the point in being angry or anything over still being in contact with an ex, in a healthy way of course." He said, very happy that Nikolas had had told him about it, and that he'd been open instead of secretive. "So, let's go then! I'm excited to meet everyone!"
Nikolas chuckled at Atlas' eagerness, then unbuckled and opened the door. "Alright, alright. Let's get going." He slipped out of the car, shutting the door behind him, then went around the hood and opened Atlas' door for him with a crooked smile. Despite his insistence that his friends weren't the most civilized and safety-concerned, he did love them dearly. They were his family. They stood by him when things got tough, then refused to stay away even if he tried to run. He didn't know where he'd be without any of them.
Atlas excitedly jumped out of the car and grabbed one of Nikolas' hands. He kept right up against his side and closed the door behind him. He looked at the building, studying it so that he could remember what it looked like if he had to come here on his own. His nervousness jumped out a little more as they got closer to the door, but tried not to pay any attention to it.
Nikolas pressed a reassuring kiss to Atlas' temple, then opened the front door without bothering to knock. They walked into the living room—which was the largest room in the house—and first came in contact with the twins.
The woman had a cloud of black coiled hair that spilled over her dark olive shoulders, exposed thanks to her shoulderless long-sleeved top that clung to her torso and exposed a sliver of her belly. The sleeves of her shirt were pushed up to her elbows. Her eyes weren't visible at first, but she did look over when she heard Nikolas and Atlas enter. Her right eye was a light sky blue while her left eye was a grassy green. What stood out about her was that there were red marks around her right eye and on the right side of her face, trailing down her neck, over her shoulder, covering her entire right arm and hand, and splattered down the right side of her torso and right thigh. The ones on her torso and leg weren't very visible, as she was wearing skinny jeans, but a small bit was visible because of the sliver of belly showing.
Standing in front of her was her twin. This one was male and taller than all of them at 6'3, with fluffy dark brown hair leaning towards black and angular features. His skin tone was the exact same as the woman's, though without the red marks; his eyes also had the same coloring as the woman's, though the colors were reversed—the right was green while the left was blue. He wore no shirt, seemingly having just stepped out of the shower, which showed off the howling wolf tribal tattoo on his shoulder and lean muscle that beat out Nikolas by a smidge. He did have a pair of grey sweatpants on. His arms had been crossed over his chest, but he dropped them curiously when Nikolas and Atlas had entered.
Atlas looked around, first catching sight of the twins. He smiled at them, not really sure what to do or say. He kept ahold of Nikolas' hand as they got inside, closing the door behind them. They both were beautiful humans in his opinion. Not that it mattered, but he could appreciate beautiful people. He resulted to looking up at Nikolas, still unsure of what to do.
Nikolas addressed the twins first, who wore identical looks of confusion as they looked at Atlas. "Cin, Wolf, this is Atlas Fox, my boyfriend." He lazily gestured between the three, then glanced down at the male next to him. "Atlas, this is Cinthia and Wulfric Griffin, the twins." He looked up at the two still-confused twins with a crooked smile, "if it wasn't already obvious."
Atlas' smile grew brighter as he was introduced to them. "Hey, it's nice you meet you!" He said to them, but not making any move to shake hands or anything of the sort. He stayed glued to Nikolas' side. They definitely looked like twins. He always thought it was cool to know twins. It was interesting to see how similar they looked, but how totally opposite their personalities were.
Finally, Wolf cracked a bright grin and looked over at Nikolas. "About time you brought a cute guy over. I was considering hooking you up with Mrs. Grumpy Pants over here just to get you both laid." He hooked a thumb over towards Cinthia, who shot her twin an incredulous look. "No," was all she said, then turned her softened gaze towards Atlas and gestured vaguely to the house. "Welcome to our home, Atlas. I hope Nik hasn't been too much trouble?" she directly the thinly veiled accusation towards Nikolas with an arched brow in his direction. He winced slightly and lightly nudged Atlas further into the house.
"Thank you, it's a nice house… definitely nicer than my apartment and Nikolas' apartment put together," Atlas said giggling. "To be fair though, I don't know what your apartment looks like, I'm just assuming it's trash since it's in the same building as mine." He said directing it to Nikolas. He took a step forward finally and smiled. "But no, he hasn't been any trouble at all, if anyone's causing trouble it's me…" His smile dropped for a second before returning to its former brightness.
Nikolas laughed softly at Atlas' statement directed towards him and nodded. Cinthia offered a small but friendly smile to Atlas, then shot a much sharper glare towards her brother before walking away. She lifted her hand and flicked her fingers. "Make yourself at home." Wolf watched her leave with a blank expression, but it was gone by the time he turned a beaming smile towards the remaining two. "Well, as much as I'd like details on this," he spiraled his index fingers around to indicate Atlas and Nikolas, "I'm sure you'd like to get to the others. They're upstairs in Tess' room."
"Oh I would love to meet everyone else!" Atlas said, smiling brightly back to Wolf. His nervousness had disappeared, replaced by pure excitement and eagerness. He looked back at Nikolas, reaching his hand back to hold Nikolas'. The twins were so nice already, so he wasn't worried about anyone else at all. He knew there was no reason to be anyway.
Nikolas took Atlas' hand without hesitation and stepped up beside him, ready to guide him up the stairs to the bedrooms. Wolf looked pointedly at their intertwined fingers, then back up to Nikolas with a smirk. Pulling Atlas towards the staircase, Nikolas shoved a hand into Wolf's face and pushed the laughing man away with a soft smile of his own. "Work out whatever it is with Cin before we get back down, will ya? I need her to not be in a pissy mood." Wolf shot him a thumbs up, then went after his twin to do just that.