Don't worry man, we'll help you out.

[break][break] Jayden glanced up, and sure enough, there was a group of boys accosting what looked like a drunken, adult male. Honestly, it was not the the type of target that he himself might have chosen for a mugging, as the man barely looked like he kept enough dollar bills to keep himself afloat let alone having anything worthwhile on hand. However, Jayden knew that sometimes things were not always as they seemed.

[break][break] Perhaps Jayden might have walked along his way, but then, one of the boys called out to him.

[break][break] Just move along, you didn't see shit here.

[break][break] Surprise flickered in the boy's eyes, but he slowed to a halt. There was something interesting about the way that the other approached him - or rather lack-of. He let his gaze curiously fall over the younger boy, as well as his collection of misfits.

[break][break] Jayden wasn't sure what made him do it, what made him speak, but —

[break][break] "And if I don't?"

[break][break] He blinked owlishly at bryan delarosa.

+ recruitment act i for bryan delarosa

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It was, almost, amusing.

[break][break] The younger boy saunters towards him in what Jayden is sure is supposed to be an intimidating manner — back arched, hands in his pocket. Should Jayden have been anyone else, it would have been enough for him to go back on his word, to cower, to run away with his tail between his legs. As it was, however, Jayden was not just anyone else.

[break][break] He had spent too many years underneath his father's thumb to be intimidated by a mere boy.

[break][break] bryan delarosa does not have to count. Jayden does it for him.

[break][break] "One," he says outloud, fingers clutching something in his own pocket. "Two." He looked up at Bryan, who is now closer. Jayden blinks. "Three."

[break][break] What would bryan delarosa do now?

[break]

+ recruitment act i for bryan delarosa

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Respect, his father had once said to him, was fatal.

[break][break] At first, Jayden had not understood it. His father had said it to him when he was 5, when he was too young yet to properly learn the complexities of Dmitri's words. Did he not mean vital instead? It was only many years later, when he watched Dmitri hold a knife to Alek's neck for a single miss-step, a single faulty action, that it properly clicked.

[break][break] Respect was vital, but for those who did not obey, it could be fatal.

[break][break] It all happened in a flash — the other dark-haired boy screamed at him, hollered really, and charged like a Tauros. There was the glint of a knife that caught the moonlight as the other aimed to slice a knife against Jayden's face.

[break][break] bryan delarosa was fast, he would give him that.

[break][break] Jayden was faster.

[break][break] Ducking quicly and also spinning around, Jayden swiftly grabbed the heel of the knife that was meant to be dragged against him. It took only moments to grab his wrists at the other hand, twisting in a way that was meant to hurt yet not enough to break. Jayden's gaze reflected moonlight as he turned and used the boy's weapon against him, pressing the knife to his throat, just barely grazing his adam's apple. He watched, in the distance, as his comrades gave a surprised shout and immediately bolted at the sight.

[break][break] There was something unnatural and sharp in glow of Jayden's eyes as he spoke to the other, his voice deadly quiet. "Not very loyal, are they?"

[break][break]

+ recruitment act i for bryan delarosa

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The silver of the steel pressed against the adam's apple, exerting pressure. It was not enough to hurt, not the way that he had twisted his wrist, but the discomfort from such a position would surely enough to make the other sweat.

[break][break] As his comrades retreated, and the younger boy had no choice to fall but prey to Jayden's movements, it was clear who was the winner in this three-second fight. Needless to say, another person might have given up in this moment. Released, perhaps.

[break][break] Jayden knew better.

[break][break] Perhaps when he thought he wasn't looking, the other boy attempted to jab an elbow into his side. Jayden did not so much as flinch — he had felt worse pain than the pressure that bryan delarosa was eliciting. The idea of broken bones and ribs came to mind, immediately.

[break][break] Instead his hold tightened, the blade of the knife still pressing against the other's neck. "You sure about that?" he said, breath curling around the shell of the man's ear. "Allies can make — or break you."

+ recruitment act i for bryan delarosa

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Lonely? Perhaps. Alone? Never.

[break][break] Pushing the knife into Bryan's neck, so close that it could cut but did not, he finally releases his hold on the other. He pushes him, jumping back, sheathing the knife in his side. He waits, letting the other regain his breath.

[break][break] "I would know a lot. If you want to know more, follow me."

[break][break] With that, he turns on his heel, leaving the option completely up to bryan delarosa .

+ recruitment act i for bryan delarosa

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