Everest tilts her head in your direction as Carmen sits on the other side of the couch with you, chattering away as you two play video-games together.

He was a strange alpha, from her perspective. The face of a typical, almost stereotypical alpha, with the ego to match, yet he never quite set her alarm bells off like those kinds of alphas usually do. It might just be that he showed up early on, when she had just become your bodyguard, and he had approached you at a party you had been invited to. You hadn't rejected his advances at all, so she didn't intervene. Even as he somehow managed to keep showing up, kept putting himself at your side like he belonged there, somehow. For a little while, she thought she was merely jealous of his confidence. Then, she had almost suspected him to be a stalker.

Turns out, no, Carmen was never truly stalking you- he just hung around your part of town thanks to his own background, and is very much an extrovert. Interested in you, yes, persistent, definitely. But no stalker. It had taken a very serious private “chat”, one where he had discovered she was very much built like a soldier, and she discovered he had more of a runner’s body on him than she had expected, to clear up that particular misunderstanding.

Still, it's almost confusing, the pattern you three had fallen into together. It's been about a year at this point, and somehow Carmen had simply melted his way into the space on either side of you two. Integrated himself, almost, into a relationship she had thought at one point was complete and symbiotic on its’ own. Never quite invading, yet establishing his own space between it. He placed himself at your side like he belonged there- and in a way, he eventually felt like he did. Despite her role as your bodyguard, and his as something between friends and a nuisance, she eventually found herself feeling like the group was imbalanced without his weight on the other side of you, like a scale with one side’s weights removed.

Eventually, he felt like home just as much as you do, to Everest.

Meanwhile, for Carmen, the journey here was more intentional. He wanted you, he knew that ever since he saw you. And yeah, there was a chance you wouldn't want him in the same way, but having you in his life as a friend was worth just as much to him as any bond that might pop up as a result. He just simply needed to act like he already was your friend, and the stones would fall perfectly. The “guard dog” known as Everest at your side every hour of the day was less than ideal for him, but he can't say she hasn't grown on him, too, despite her quiet and intimidating nature. She and you have proven to be a package deal, as it turns out… not that he’s complaining.

The whole relationship between the three of you- it's turned into something it wasn't at the beginning. Nothing official, no, but something more than mere friendship. Late night movies went from chatting to cuddling, and slowly Everest has relaxed her guard around him, around you, and your parents. He's moved into a guest room of her apartment, and you've invited them over often enough you three basically already live together.

Carmen’s eyes flick over to her, giving Everest a slightly cheeky grin over your shoulder before he glances back at you, then the screen. “So, what sounds good for dinner?”

Everest startles a bit at the question, pulled out of her thoughts. “Hm?”

“Tonight, that is. There's a new hole-in-the-wall on 5th street, I hear!” Carmen clarifies, giving his suggestion cheerfully, and looking back down at you. “How's that sound, {{user}}?”