First Sight

[leveraged_buyout]

Lucien Moreau wasn't in town often, and that was the way Damien liked it. The less he saw the man who sired him the better, and even when the household was full of his spies who undoubtedly reported every little detail back to the old geezer, at least Damien didn't have to see him.

But if old Moreau arrived back on an early flight and summoned for his presence, as much as Damien didn't want to, he obeyed those summons. It didn't matter that he was still abed when the butler delivered them 15 minutes ago, his father demanded to see him and Damien obeyed.

It was only down the hall and into Moreau senior's private studies, but it still felt like it was going into another world. Damien's loafers clicked loudly on the tiles as he walked down the long hall of the west wing, the original section of the mansion that he normally avoided altogether. This was the old man's wing, a part of the ancient mansion that was inherited down generations, unlike the newer east and south wings which were added only shortly before Damien was born.

Dressed up presentably in a three piece suit, hair quickly slicked back to battle the his bedhead, Damien knocked on the large study doors and waited to be admitted. He covered his yawn with a fist as he waited, mind still blanked by the early morning to ponder the reason for the meeting.

Comments

[leveraged_buyout]

"Nothing will happen, don't worry," Damien answered, thinking he won this one. It was easier than he thought it would be.

"I have your number, I'll dial if my car breaks down." Damien had slid into the driver's seat and was closing the door. "Don't follow. I do not want to see you, my men, or even the car anywhere within a 5 mile radius until I'm back in the house. I'm sick of being followed everywhere." Since Spencer wasn't letting him close the door easily, Damien opened it wider seconds before slamming it shut behind him.

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot grits his teeth as Damien gets into the car. "You're bein' stupid," he growls, voice a low, frustrated rumble. But he doesn't try to stop him, and when Damien pushes the car door open farther he steps back and lets him shut it. Even steps back far enough to let him pull away without having to be threatened.

And when Damien pulls away he stands there for a count of thirty, watching the car work its way into traffic and ease down the road... then he turns to the rest of the detail, snarls, "get a damn cab," grabs the key from Ramirez, and heads for the car Damien had expected them all to pile into to get back to the estate. At least he has enough GPS trackers on the damn car that even if it occurs to Damien to try and block him he'd never find anything but the obvious one under the dash.

[leveraged_buyout]

Except Damien didn't even think to dig for bugs or trackers in his own car. He did turn off and disconnect the GPS navigation and recording devices, but that was the extent of his stealth. He checked several times over his shoulder and when he didn't see anyone recognizable, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

Even so, he didn't go anywhere directly, but circled in his car a few times on various before he finally drove to the target for the night. It was a much poorer corner of the city, not quite the slums but where he knew he could find certain services. It was only a few streets long, but Damien took his time driving past, looking for the right guy for the next half hour.

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot gives him a few miles to get comfortable, following him from well out of sight, but once the tracker he's monitoring starts moving with purpose again instead of circling he lets himself ease closer. There's no way Damien's devious or alert enough to be paying attention by this point. And once Eliot realizes it's making a beeline for one of the seedier parts of town he makes sure to creep close enough through traffic to actually keep easy line of sight on Damien's car. Especially once it slows down to cruise along a very particular stretch of road, and he curses under his breath in realization.

Jesus christ, all this because he wants to get his dick wet?

[leveraged_buyout]

It was a lot of necessary subterfuge in order to indulge in a very secretive and infrequent perversion. Damien had realized his orientation in late highschool, but kept it well under wraps all through these years. He perhaps indulged only a few times per year all done very carefully and made sure he wasn't found out. This could ruin him if it it came out, worse, it could kill him. He didn't doubt his father would if it was ever exposed.

He eventually found the guy he wanted, decent looking, strong, dirty blond hair and wasn't too cheap. Damien stopped and waved him over, conversing on the price briefly before telling him to get into the car. After that, he headed directly to a small hotel.

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot stays back a few cars, easing along slowly enough that more than one of the boys on the side of the road comes to his window to try and get his attention. He ignores them completely, attention focused almost entirely on Damien's car, especially when he pulls over and a burly blond who looks a little better fed and better dressed than the general run of guys out hooking.

Jesus christ, but at least there's just about no chance the kid's actually a plant. It doesn't mean he's safe. That he won't recognize his john and the blackmail potential inherent in the situation. Or just that Damien's carrying a small fortune on him to someone like that, and rolling him for it might seem like a worthwhile risk. Eliot curses under his breath the entire way to the hotel after that, attention absolutely focused on keeping Damien in sight without letting himself stand out at all. Why, why is it his job to keep a complete dumbass alive?

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien didn't think about all that. He had figured with his careful rerouting, he was an anonymous john and no one would find him. He didn't really think it was possible to be recognized here, certainly didn't expect a tail, and he was so far displaced from his normal haunts that it in itself was considered keeping a low profile. The car he drove wasn't even a fancy one, just the average company car that he usually took for utility rather than looks.

Really, where was the danger?

The hotel he paid by cash, not even a four star, probably not even three stars, but would have clean sheets and perfect privacy. He was nobody here. The bored looking reception gave him keys and didn't question him at all.

Damien checked in for the night even though it would only be used for an hour and invited the other up. A third floor window lit up soon afterwards and things got started. They were both on a clock.

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot waits in the car while Damien books a room, watches him lead his chosen indiscretion up, and is watching when a light goes on upstairs shortly after. He waits a minute longer, watching the reception desk through the window, until the clerk disappears into the back at the same time that a group heads in and casually follows them. It gets him through and to the elevator without any suspicion, his neat hair cut and expensive suit making him almost invisible. On the third floor he pads silently down the hall and sets himself up next to the door corresponding to the light he'd seen outside. And waits.

[leveraged_buyout]

It lasted only half an hour, but Damien was very satisfyingly debauched within those thirty minutes and felt like it went great ways to work out his sexual frustrations. He gave the permission for the charge to leave first since the young man said he didn't need help getting back to where he was dropped. For how discretion, he was paid enough that he probably didn't have to work anymore that night.

While the other quietly slipped out, Damien went to go take his shower. There's no point in smelling like sex when he went back.

[a_very_distinctive]

The kid just about jumps out of his skin when he comes out the door and finds Eliot standing there. "I know who you are, an' I know where t'find you," he informs him stonily. Both lies, but also both easily remedied. "Which I won't have t'do so long as you keep your mouth shut."

It's a calculated risk, giving the event more significance in the guy's eyes like this, but Eliot has the nagging feeling Damien doesn't realize how recognizable his face is in this town and how easily one wrong word could bring things crashing down on him. So he listens to the kid's stammered assurances (though thank fuck he's not actually a kid, or he'd be seriously rethinking his employment) and then watches him almost skitter to the elevator... then considers for a moment before pulling his lockpicks and letting himself into the room. It'll probably be better to have this conversation somewhere that's not a public hallway, after all.

He takes a seat in the armchair nearest the bathroom and settles in to wait for Damien to be finished.

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien finished his shower expecting to be alone in the room. When he came out to grab something from guys carry bag, he saw out of the corner of his eyes that the figure of the other was still there, but he didn't instantly realize who it wasn't.

"You're free to go," Damien reminded him while moving back into the bathroom to fix up his hair.

Only when he looked into the mirror and saw the reflection of Spencer that he did a double take and spun so fast he almost lost his balance. His hand went out to the counter to steady himself.

He froze where he was, staring with the deer in the headlights reaction. Even his question was no more than a fearful whisper. "What are you doing here?"

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot doesn't say anything when Damien wanders out then right back into the bathroom again with an offhand dismissal and not even a glance in his direction. He just waits, quiet and patient, and it's easy to tell exactly when Damien sees him in the mirror, even before he spins and nearly falls.

Eliot doesn't move, just watches and waits, one eyebrow arching. "Makin' sure you don't get your dumb ass killed," he answers blandly. "Or outed, looks like."

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien could hardly hear what Spencer replied over the roar of his rushing blood and loudly pounding heart. Spencer was here despite all his efforts to be rid of a tail, and he knew Damien's secret. The one thing that could possibly end him, and if his father wasn't going to kill him before, he definitely would if Damien's deviation was discovered.

Damien couldn't move from his spot, he couldn't even let go of the counter in fear his legs wouldn't support him. He couldn't even pretend that he wasn't having a panic attack.

"How did you find me? How... When did you get here?"

[a_very_distinctive]

"Jesus, sit the hell down before you fall down," Eliot grumbles at him, rolling his eyes. "I followed you, 'cause you suck at paying any damn attention to your surroundings. Anyone could'a tailed your ass, you're just lucky it was me, an' not someone who wants to fuck your shit up."

He bites back a sigh and leans forward a little. "Serious, sit down. And I've been here since your piece of ass walked out. Was in the hallway before that."

[leveraged_buyout]

There went any hope, however miniscule it was, that Spencer could have somehow found him after the fact. Damien took the suggestion to sit down, looking numbly at the closest chair for only a brief second before moving to the one across from it that Spencer didn't already occupy.

He fell into it more than sitting down elegantly.

He needed to cover this up; right now, only Spencer knew. Or was it only him? Did the rest of his detail sit outside in the car? Damien was unaware of how transparent his thoughts were as he appraised the shorter man wondering how hard would it be to take him out. "Only you?"

[a_very_distinctive]

"Yes, only me." He rolls his eyes again, because Damien's about as transparent as god damn glass. "An you really don't wanna be thinking about anything stupid right now. Or at least stupider than you've already been. 'Cause you couldn't take me at your best, and neither could anyone else on your damn payroll. Plus, do you really wanna fuckin' go after the one guy who's actually on your side, instead of your daddy's?"

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien pursed his lips in frustration, more out of how Spencer was right than being caught of his ill conceived scheme. He didn't have the resources to get rid of this one man despite the danger he posed. It would piss him off if he wasn't still so shaken.

"How do I know you're really on my side?" Because if Spencer wasn't, if there was even a fraction of him that wasn't 100%, then Damien was screwed like he had never been before. "You don't listen to a thing I say, you disobey orders... And... You're here."

[a_very_distinctive]

"Junior, if I wasn't on your side you'd be long dead, or at least sold out to your old man. And I disobey orders when they're stupid."

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien was coming out of his shock to instead fix a very hard glare on his head of security. "Anyone else saying that would have been dismissed already." But he really didn't have much of a choice but to trust Spencer, the man was abnormally resilient against attacks.

[a_very_distinctive]

"Yeah, well, hopefully you got a strong enough sense of self-preservation t'not wanna fire the only guy you can be pretty damn sure isn't shilling for your old man."

[leveraged_buyout]

"You may consider yourself fortunate that I still can't fire you." But for now, Damien was accepting the fact that he was going to have to live with Spencer knowing his secret and hoping that was as far as it went. "However, I do not want to hear you mention this night again."

[a_very_distinctive]

Eliot snorts and leans forward, elbows on his knees. "Pretty sure you're the lucky one here," he points out blandly. "Believe me, I could walk out the door an' have another job in less than twenty-four hours, probably even workin' for someone who actually respects my expertise."

He leans back again, eyeing Damien critically. "Look, I don't give a damn where you wanna stick your dick or, hell, where you want anyone else t'stick theirs, but next time you feel the need t'creep out here an' get your rocks off you let me know. 'Cause the way you're goin', it's just a matter of time before you manage to trail a pap out here after you and out yourself to the damn world."

[leveraged_buyout]

Damien didn't exactly flush red with Spencer's crude words, but he did stiffen very noticeably and looked like he bit into a lime. "I was very discreet," he defended picking the thing he could argue as opposed to the other facts. "You couldn't have followed my car, I looked. There weren't any cars behind me."

He wasn't going to discuss his bedding habits with anyone, least of all his redneck security. But it did feel somewhat relieving to finally let someone into his secret, no matter how heart stopping this moment was.

[a_very_distinctive]

"Discreet doesn't count for shit when you're considered one of the most eligible bachelors on the damn continent," he points out, barely managing to resist another eyeroll. "And there's not a damn thing that's discreet about doing a slow crawl through the red light district lookin' for a hookup. You honest t'god think none of those boys you were crusin' out there read the gossip rags or watch the celebrity news updates? That no one's ever gonna recognize you and sell a cell phone pic of you t'some rag? Or try to blackmail you in exchange for not doing it?"

He shakes his head. "I followed the GPS on your car for the first couple miles, but by then you weren't paying a damn bit of attention, and if I'd been in a car you didn't know I probably could'a tailed you from the get go and you never would'a noticed."

[leveraged_buyout]

"I would have noticed." Damien gave Spencer an indignant glare. "And I turned off the GPS." But the rest of what the short redneck said was true, they were risks he took everytime he tried to laid. He didn't know of a better way though and this was already threw least dangerous method.

"Likely they'll think I just look alike, they wouldn't make the connection." Or so Damien was gambling. He hadn't lost so far. "What could you do better?"