jack had been there so many times by now, he practically knew the layout of the whole damn place. well, the parts that mattered, anyway—namely the ones leading up to nisha’s bedroom and other stupid essentials like the bathroom and hell, the kitchen if the need for a drink or .. whatever else arose. he knew the place well enough to know that the pair of eyes he’s met with when he makes it to the kitchen in order to do just that were something new, so either this kid snuck in there somehow or— there was something else at play he wasn’t getting.
for a moment he debates whether he should slowly back away, wake her and ask why the hell there’s a kid, sitting at the kitchen table, reading and eating cereal like it’s no big deal, but by the time said kid opens his mouth jack knows he’s probably meant to be there, anyway. sneaky— how he hadn’t seen him before is beyond him, but then again his eyes were only focused on one thing and one thing alone whenever he would stay over, anyway. and she was still very muchasleep. and probably unaware that jack had gotten up from the bed.
“ ‘sup—-kiddo.” is the first thing he can think of, having paused in his stride to grab the aforementioned drink, offering a small wave, before he realizes that wow, okay, maybe he shouldhave put more than just his boxers on. but that was before he knew that this kid also apparently lived there. for some reason nisha didn’t deem important enough to have him know. whatever.
“say, you—wanna uh, refresh my memory and tell me who you are again?”
clay didn’t know whether to balk or stay strong here. every instinct he’d had tells him he aught to play alpha dog here , protect his turf and his family - but he’d been working hard to break those instincts since coming here. nisha was scary , and she didn’t know her ass from her elbow when it came to being sisterly , or maternal , or whatever she was going for , but ... she’d done more for him in a few months than anyone’d done for him in his life. she deserved to have a normal kid under her roof , and he’d do what he could to give her that.
so telling him to fuck off was off the table. unfortunately. this guy reeked of sleaze and shitty cologne , but he was the one making his sister happy , so ... clay shrugged , shoving another spoonful of cereal in his mouth to buy time. his eyes scanned over the stranger a few times , taking him in somberly ; if there’s any plus to this situation , it’s that he knows exactly what he’s dealing with. could’ve probably gotten there with him clothed , too , but scars tell a lot about a person. this man seemed to have plenty.
“ who’re you ? “ he asks , as innocently as possible. some strange man come parading around his house , he’s entitled to a few questions. “ you come ‘round , like ... once a week these days. “
