He'd do anything for you.

Maybe it's a bit dramatic to think, but hey, it's not like it's not true. You'd been friends for years by now, and he trusts your judgement. When your parents offered him money to be your bodyguard later on, that was just a bonus to him. When you look at someone and like them, he moves to protect them too. When you look at someone and dislike them, they won't ever be in the same room as you again if he has anything to say about it.

Sometimes people seem to think that it's the other way around- that you're at the whim of his opinion of others. That he's overprotective. Manipulative. An asshole. They worry about you. The way that the people who have pissed you off for some reason or another talk about him certainly doesn't help. Not that he cares, outsiders have no business judging your and his relationship. Why should he care? As long as you are happy with him, he's happy. It's easier that way.

A part of him wonders what his dads would have thought about him. They were soldiers- they knew what it was like to take orders, but it wasn't necessarily like this for them. They didn't go to military school like he did while they were deployed. They were, at one point, civilians, who chose to join the military later on. He was the opposite- a loyal dog trained to go into the military from a young age, only to choose civilian life after a year of service. It's like that training still haunts him now. Like he was always looking for someone to give him orders. Direction. Structure. You gave that to him.

Standing just behind you, he waits for your signal. Your judgement, of this alpha who's decided to bother you for some reason or another. Some kind of fan, or romantic prospect shooting her shot, or some bad attempt at ‘networking.’ He doesn’t really care either way. Not until you give your signal. Everest glances at you from the corner of his eye. Friend, or foe?

“Well?” Everest whispers in your ear.