Chapter Text
~*~
"Lucy! Where are you?" Of course, this would have to happen. Lucrecia blended in with the clay-colored dirt mounds of the construction site so she could take off and find Spartacus and Varro. "Lucy, when I find you you're dead meat you psychotic little bitch" Shit! Where is she? Agron worried.
"We'll find her man, just as soon as we find Spartacus and Varro. You know they are always together. Calm down," Duro tried to reason with him.
"I'm gonna kill Mira. How hard is it to watch a five-pound hotdog? No! I'm gonna kill her then I'm firing her," Agron snarled.
"Jesus Agron, calm down," Duro tried again. He was starting to get worried. Spartacus and Varro did not come running when he called too, which was not like them. "Spartacus! Varro!" he yelled again.
"Duro!" someone yelled from the catering tent, "They're in here!" Duro and Agron ran off towards where catering was. They skidded to a halt at the entrance. Varro and Spartacus were seated patiently waiting for another cookie at the foot of a dark-haired young man. His long jet-black hair pulled back away from his face. He was fussing over a bundle in his arms. He looked up at them both with laughing dark eyes. "They came in for their cookies and this little lady followed them in. She seems to have found a mud puddle or ten along the way, so I gave her a bath. I'm just warming her up a bit before I go find her parents," he explained.
"Lucy?" Agron called to the bundle of blankets and a black nose popped out with an ear that was bent crookedly. Agron growled in frustration as he marched over, sidestepping the other two dogs and wrenched the bundle out from the younger man’s arms. "Her name is Lucretia," he scowled.
"Agron," Duro snapped tightly looking a little pissed off.
Why is he pissed? My dog's the one that ran off. "Oh, thanks for findin' him," he muttered offhandedly over his shoulder as he marched out of the tent
Duro smiled weakly at Nasir and jogged off after Agron, "Rude much?" Duro snapped at Agron.
"What the hell is your problem?" Agron snapped back.
"You, Agron! You’re my problem. You damned near ripped Nasir's arm off picking up Lucretia. All he did was find your dog, bath him and spoil him until you showed up to let your asshole shine through."
"What're you sweet on him or somethin'? Never figured you for a chubbie chaser or you know gay or whatever. Does Diona know that you switched teams?" Agron taunted snidely as he walk off. Duro grabbed Agron's arm and spun him around sharply. "What the fuck, man?" Agron yelled at him glowering down at his brother.
Duro stood up to his full height and glared up at his brother, "And they say Gannicus is the douche. Ya' know if you got your head out from under Saxa's skirt, or whoever your flavor of the month is, and spent a little less time judging people on their screwability status, you might be surprised at what you learn," Duro snarled before he stomped off to his trailer with the dogs trailing behind him. Duro was rarely angry and even less so with Agron, so this caused Agron to pause. He turned and looked back at the catering tent only to catch sad chocolate-brown eyes staring at him. The slight young man just shook his head, turned back, and went about setting up for the dinner crowd.
~*~
Agron was reviewing the blue prints for their latest project in his trailer when he was interrupted by a knock. He checked to make sure Lucretia was on her pillow in the corner and opened his door to the young man that he had met the day before warmly smiling up at him from the bottom step. "Hey, Mr. Bauer. I know Lucretia likes these treats, so I made some extra for her," he held up Ziploc container full of doggie treats.
Lucretia' ears perked up when she heard her new friend's voice and jumped up from her pillow, ran through Agron's legs, and up into Nasir’s outstretched arms. She proceeded to kiss him from ear to ear causing Nasir to snicker. "Damn it Lucy!” Agron growls reaching for Lucretia, “I'm sorry about that," he apologized halfheartedly, as he stepped down to extract the psychotic hotdog that was his dog from the kids’ arms.
Agron looked down at sparkling brown eyes and flushed cheeks. "It's alright Mr. Bauer. I don't mind. Hey there sweetie, have you been a good girl for your poppa? You need to get inside now before you catch a chill," he chided his as he handed her back to Agron with Lucretia' container of treats and a smile. He turned to navigate his way back down the stairs.
"Listen, um…," Agron started looking expectantly at the young man, not remembering his name.
"Nasir, Nasir Taylor," he replied.
Agron smiled slightly. "Yesterday, I shouldn't have…," Agron offered by way of apology and a vague wave of his hand.
"It's not a problem Mr. Bauer. You were just worried about Lucretia," they boy finished for him. Nasir turned again to leave. Agron shuffled uncertainly juggling Lucretia in his arms.
"About the other things I said," Agron called hesitantly after him.
Nasir turned back to Agron. His happy smile softened and turned slightly sad, "It wasn't the first time someone has made comments about my weight Mr. Bauer and I'm sure it won't be the last. You enjoy the rest of your day," Nasir replied before he turned and made his way through the twist of muddle puddles and construction equipment. Was I just dismissed? Agron thought. He watched Gannicus tackle the young man in a bear hug
Agron stood and watched the young man make his way through the twist of cables and mud puddles only to be attacked by Gannicus while he was prattled on about Nasir being sent down from the Gods to tempt him with delectable treats. Nasir's laugh was warm and infectious, "I take it you enjoyed the beer and brown sugar cookies I made? Well good. Here, I made some pretzels I think you are going to enjoy."
Agron watched them talk some more before the boy left to return to work. "Hey Gannicus! Who is that guy?" he yelled out to his coworker before Gannicus returned to his current project.
"Are you serious? He owns the catering company you hired. He’s been here for over a month," Gannicus replied incredulously shaking his head as he stomped off to his work area.
~*~
Nasir was walking to his Jeep to go pickup some supplies for catering at the local market when he heard Duro yelling, "Look out! Spartacus, Varro, you get back here!" Nasir turned to see what mischief the dogs were getting into. Uh-oh, Nasir cringed internally when he turned to see the two mastiffs come charging straight at him. Nasir heard Duro’s panicked cry of "No!" before Varro barreled into him feet first, slobbering all over his face.
"Oh Jesus! Nasir, are you okay?" Duro stammers as he tries to pull Varro off of the squashed little man while Spartacus danced about back and forth barking and licking Nasir when he could sneak in. Agron and Gannicus were hot on his tail to help when they saw Nasir collapsing to the ground under Varro's sheer size and weight.
"Varro! No! Stop That! Nasir?" Duro called out in a panic. He finally heard Nasir chuckling under the onslaught. He sat up of his own according laughing and petting both Spartacus and Varro as they kissed and nuzzled him affectionately.
"You little beasties, I don't have any cookies with me right now. They're back in the oven. It's okay. I think they just smelt the batch I took out of the oven." He was covered with mud and dog slobber as he snickered and absently scratched the dogs as they lay in his lap wanting more attention.
Gannicus was the first to break out in laughter at the scene. Nasir was fine. A little battered, maybe a little bruised and filthy from head to toe, but he was fine. Duro is tripping over himself to help Nasir up. Duro’s blatant distress set Agron off cackling. By this time, a small crowd was gathered. In the end, everyone had a laugh. Duro hauled his dogs off of Nasir and chastised them for their ill manners, which made Nasir giggle and leaned down to fuss over them some more.
"I'm fine everyone thank you. I'll just send Chadara out to pick up the stuff, since clearly I'm not allowed to leave," he laughed patting the dogs heads before he walked back to the catering tent with Duro profusely apologizing and a caravan of dogs trailing behind. The dogs started getting hyper and out of hand again, and Nasir spun around and snapped in a commanding voice, "Sit!" and the dogs promptly sat without question. "I have just about had enough of you two. If you do not behave, there will be no cookies for either of you. Now, come," he commanded with a snap of his fingers and they followed Nasir calmly to the catering tent. Duro was still apologizing, which only made Nasir madder. He stopped, the dogs stopped and Duro stopped walking while he continued to babble down at the young man. Nasir’s chin shot up, he balled his fists on his hips and glared up at Duro. "I've just about had enough of you too. I'm fine Duro. Enough already. Now, stop apologizing or I'll have to beat you with my rolling pin." Duro's shoulders slumped, and he looked very much like a kicked puppy. "Oh, stop that now. Let's see if I have any of that popcorn snack that you like." They turned and walked back to catering again with Duro talking a mile a minute being his animated goofy self and Nasir laughing and talking at intervals. The dogs trotted happily along behind them.
~*~
Agron watched the exchange curiously. Over the last couple of weeks, he had been watching Nasir a lot. He was an enigma, bright, cheerful, happy and eager to please but not in an overbearing way. He was definitely not the type of person Agron would go for, but there was something about him. He was sweet. His smile and laugh were infectious, and he had the cutest blush when he was complimented.
"Don't," Gannicus said from behind him.
"Don't what?" Agron asked watching Nasir play with Spartacus and Varro.
"Whatever you're thinking about starting with Nasir, just do him a favor and don't. He's not the type you fuck around with Agron. I'll admit he can be hard as nails when warranted and stubborn as a mule, but he's got a tender heart, and I don't want to see it broken," Gannicus stated.
"Just what the fuck're you sayin' Gannicus?" Agron snapped.
"I know you and all I'm sayin' is don't, not unless you're serious," Gannicus warned before he turned and walked back to company trailer. Agron thought about what Gannicus had said. Things had been kind of dry with Saxa lately. This might spice things up a little bit. He would just explain the deal, like he always did.
~*~
Agron and Saxa had an open relationship. With their busy work schedules, sex was more of an activity than a commitment. They had both agreed, if there were hookups along the way, as long as they were honest, no harm, no foul; well, that was more for Saxa than Agron. He was just glad he was given Carte Blanche, and his libido never suffered. He did care for Saxa, and he would probably marry his when the time came, but until then.
~*~
Later that day, Agron made his way to catering. The lunch crowd was thinning out. Perfect, he thought. "Hey Nasir, how're you doin'?" he asked with a wink and a charming, dimpled smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gannicus scowling from where he was reviewing the latest architectural changes on the new set of blueprints. There as an angry snap of paper as his aggravated scowl was hidden from view.
"I'm fine Mr. Bauer, what can I get you?" he asked politely.
For some reason, Agron had a feeling Nasir did not quite like him, but he was always friendly and polite when they interacted. "Nasir, please you need to start calling me Agron. Mr. Bauer is my dad," he laughed at his own joke.
"Very well, Agron. What can I get for you?" he asked again with a small smile.
"Oh no, I'm good thanks. Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner some time?" he asked.
Nasir's eyes narrowed and then he started looking around the tent and into the clearing of the lot. Agron was a little confused by his reaction. What's he lookin' for? "Uh, Nasir?" he asked a little taken back.
"Hmmm?" he replied, "Oh, sorry, I was just looking for Duro," Agron was even more confused.
"Why?" he asked getting a little annoyed that the little shit was not more responsive to him.
"Because," he replied looking Agron up and down, "I'm trying to figure out if this is a prank or a bet."
Agron at least had the good grace to blush faintly, "What, what makes you say that?" he asked uncertainly.
"Mm-hmm. Okay. Thanks Agron, really, but I don't think it's a good idea," Nasir replied honestly.
Agron blinked incredulously. "Wait, you're sayin' no?" Agron muttered in shock.
This only made Nasir chuckle softly. "You don't get turned down too often do you? Thank you. It's sweet, really, but I think it's best if we don't go there," he replied with air quotes before he turned to fix a cup of coffee, just the way Agron liked it, and hand it to him with a cupcake. "Duro mentioned that you liked these the last time I made them. I think Mira is trying to flag you down Agron. Have a good day."
Agron turned with his cupcake and coffee and walked in a daze over to Mira to find out what she wanted. He never noticed Gannicus’ smirk that was hidden behind the blueprints he snapped back into place.
~*~
"Guys we're gonna need about a half hour or so to fix this. Go grab a bite and we'll call you when we get the excavator working," the project repair manager advised testily after Agron had run it into a dirt pile absentmindedly. Duro nodded and grabbed his brother’s arm to drag him over to the catering tent for some coffee and a snack.
Nasir and Gannicus were chatting quietly in the corner. Upon seeing them enter, Nasir stood to go help them. "We got it Nasir, don't worry about it," Duro told his as he got him and Agron a cup of coffee and some energy bars. He brought them over to where Agron was sitting staring with a confused look at Gannicus and Nasir. "You gonna tell me what's up?" Duro asked as he stuffed an energy bar in his mouth followed by a large gulp of hot coffee.
"I just don't get it," Agron mutters. "He chats and hangs with you and Gannicus all the time. I ask his to dinner and he shoots me down," he replied absently while fiddling with his cup in contemplation.
"Who? Nasir?" Duro asked as he snuck a peak at Nasir and Gannicus talking quietly amongst themselves. "Well? Can you blame him?" Duro asked around a mouth full.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Agron snapped.
"Aggie, everyone here knows what your definition of 'dinner' is. Wham, bam, if they're lucky if they get a thank you," Duro told him honestly.
"That's not …" Agron flustered and sputtered.
"Plus, you are still technically with Saxa, so…," Duro continued over him.
"Yeah, but it's okay, we have an understanding. She doesn't care and I know she’s been with other guys too…hell even a couple of women. It works. Look, Gannicus and Sibyl have the same arrangement, I don't see how that's any…," Agron weakly tried to reason.
"Gannicus also isn't a dick about it either," Duro retorted. "Look, I don't even want to know about what you and Saxa have goin' on. If that works for you fine, all I'm sayin' is there is more to a relationship than sex. Someday, you're gonna figure that out," Duro reasoned. "Look, I love ya' man, but Nasir's one of those rare 'nice people' Mom told us about. Just back off of whatever you're planning; he deserves better than that," Duro finished as he got up and walked back to his trailer.
~*~
"Agron, do you need anything?" Nasir asked after he had had noticed Agron sitting there for ten minutes in silence. Agron was just thinking about what Duro had said. Gannicus had left to go back to his trailer and it was just the two of them.
"What?” Agron startled, “Oh, no. Thanks. Um, Nasir, what do you do when you're not here?" Agron asked suddenly curious.
Nasir's eyes narrowed shrewdly assessing his intention. "I thought we already went over this Agron." he replied shortly.
Agron blushed, "Look, you hang out with Duro and Gannicus. They’re both friends of mine and they know you better than I do. I just want to get to know you a little better, that's all. I mean we do work together," Agron finished hopefully.
Nasir cautiously sat down across from him. "What do you want to know?" he asked.
~*~