At the mention of the gala, Nate's head popped out from behind cover again, like a gopher peeking out of its burrow. He had only been mildly interested in these two up until now but learning that the strangers were there that night snapped all of his attention onto them. All the noise in his head stopped at once. He was entirely focused on Brooks and Abigail now. He slid out of his hiding spot and his eyes landed on the sobbing girl. He wasn't much for comforting others so decided to leave that up to someone else. Christi or Vin seemed the most suited for such a thing.

Instead, Nate passed Abigail by and moved towards the old man. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly but there was no smile on his eyes. His eyes were narrow in suspicion and Nate looked Brooks over, deciding that he wasn't an immediate physical threat.

His attention only shifted when he asked Eli if they could put the guns away. "Yes." Nate answered before Eli had a chance to. He turned to Vin and snatched the gun away from him. He knew from experience that a gun in the hands of someone who didn't know how use it could be even more dangerous than someone who did. "No offence buddy but I'd trust the dog with a gun more than you." he told Vin with a light pat on the cheek.

"And you." he said, turning back to Brooks. "We're not gonna kill you because you may be important but trust me, if you or your  girl try anything that puts my people in trouble, you [i]will[/i] lose a limb." It was quite a serious threat but he said it with a smile. Although this one was less friendly than it was almost predatory.

He turned away and headed back towards the mine. As he passed Eli, he asked  "Does everything always have to be so serious with you?" He knew Eli probably wouldn't like his alpha male status being questioned like Nate had just done but Nate had never been much of a subordinate himself.