Bloody Hands && Temper

Aiden Carter. XXIX. Enforcer && Utterly Loyal to The Emperor.

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

gavinxcrow:

It wasn’t so much that Aiden had made Gavin uncomfortable, it was more just unknown people in general. He hadn’t expected the woman to know, so nothing lost there. The question, however, gave him pause. Who was he waiting for? He hadn’t bothered to ask. 

“I am not sure. Rowan brought me, told me to wait, and said he would pick me up once he was back from his other run.” 

As he speaks he glances up to the woman, still not meeting her eyes but getting closer before returning his gaze to the floor. 

“My name is Gavin. I do not remember if we have met. What is your name?” 

He took a few steps closer, and stuck out his hand. He once again forced himself to look up, but he sort of stared off at the wall over her shoulder. Normally, he would make more of an effort to make eye contact, like mother always said to, but between the situation and the woman he was sufficiently anxious enough to ignore that particular lesson. 

“Right. Can’t help you with that. Don’t know a thing about what Rowan is doing or intends to do.”

The longer she interacted with this kid... Gavin, apparently, the less patience she had, not that she had that much patience to start with; The way her fingers continued to clench into a fist and relax repetitively was an absolute sure sign of that. She didn’t really care about him, didn’t really care whatever it was he was doing. However, she wasn’t exactly about to leave, circumstance dictated she stay, so what else was there to do but answer?

“Aiden,” she offered in return, before she stared at his hand as if she didn’t know what to do with it ( perhaps because she didn’t really ), “I don’t think it matters if we’ve met before. You’re waiting for a laptop and I’m waiting for a name. No reason to make nice, or whatever.” 

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

adamdxrand:

When she looked at him, he couldn’t very well shake the feeling that he was under a microscope or something. She wasn’t just looking but watching, analyzing him. It was the same way he felt around Remy, and it made him want to squirm all the more, though he held himself back as best he could, trying to still his hands even though they were out of sight.

Though the more he thought about it, the more her answer annoyed him - almost flippant, a smugness to it. Quit while you’re ahead. It didn’t sit well with him, and he blurted out his next question before he could entirely bring himself to stop. “What exactly is your problem with me? I’ve barely ever said five words in a row to you and you act like I’ve committed some sin.”

Apparently, she had gotten under his skin. Aiden might have apologized for that, you know, if she were a different girl who cared for the way other people thought of her. But Aiden had never been good at either that or making people more comfortable around her presence.

“I think it’s pretty clear.” she said, tone about as blasé as if she were talking about the weather. There was little to no further explanation that she was willing to offer. Her habits, after all, weren’t to provide people with answers just because they wanted them. She did what she wanted and spoke as little as possible. “I just don’t like you.”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

verohno:

The street spread out in front of Vero like a winding road, the Paris streets reminding her of Montreal in all the worst ways. She grinned at the irony, and let herself bask in the sunlight for another second, taking a long drag from the cigarette perched in her lips. A shadow fell over her for a few seconds, someone walking by, and Vero groaned. 

“Don’t you just hate it when people steal your sunshine?” She states, to no one in particular, and she breaks out into a grin just a few moments later. “I sure as hell do.”

Aiden passed the woman without a singular thought, mind wrapped up in her own world, her own thoughts, her own intentions. In particular, though she wouldn’t easily admit it, she was relishing the sting of recently bruised knuckles and the throb of newly split lip that indicated she had done what she did best; Bring chaos. Yet, the other’s speech brought her from her reverie, caused her to turn as she passed, giving the other an odd look. “Stealing sunshine?”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

gavinxcrow:

Gavin hated coming to the headquarters, especially when he felt it wasn’t necessary. The laptop that he was supposed to work on could have just as easily been brought to him, instead of him to it. However, the discomfort of leaving his desk at home was less than the discomfort of confrontation, so here he was.

They had told him to wait in the room down the hall, but they hadn’t told him that the room would contain someone else. When she speaks, Gavin quickly averts his gaze and pointedly stares at the floor a few feet away from her. 

“I apologize, ma'am. I was not informed that there would be someone else in this room.”

The boy, well no. The man, though he certainly did not look it, appeared to shrink under the woman’s gaze before continuing.

“I was told that I am to wait here until they have the laptop for me.”

He still didn’t look up at Aiden, instead choosing to have a staring contest with that spot on the floor.

Ma’am? Well, that was a new one. Fingers paused in their repetitive gesture, distraction in the title stilling her for a moment as she looked the other over. How on Earth had he convinced himself that she ought to be called ma’am?

Aiden didn’t think she even remotely gave off that vibe. Though, of course, there was the consideration that it was simply a compensation for discomfort. That she might believe, she had a tendency to make people uncomfortable.

“Don’t know a thing about that,” she offered, unhelpfully, though she supposed that wasn’t quite her fault. She didn’t know anything so it was a bit difficult to be helpful under those circumstances. Still, brows raised again with just the lightest bit of curiosity despite herself, even as he maintained a steady gaze on the floor. “Who are you waiting for?”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

malachiheron:

Mal snorted, not even attempting to hide the sound before he set aside his water bottle and eyed the figure that darkened his doorway. it wasn’t a face that he took in as all too familiar, a regular that knew their way around the backstage area in hopes of getting lost enough to find the stripper of their liking. Most nights he didn’t mind them, taking in the praise and presents that they gifted in his direction in hopes of translating that into tangled bed sheets before the night was through but Mal was securely a look but don’t touch stripper. Unless they made him a deal he couldn’t refuse. So far, no one had matched the one that Luce offered, leaving it off the table most nights as he pocketed the extra cash and left with a bit of a pep in his step. “So no, not you, an’ then yes, it is you. Wow, aren’t you a real piece of work,” he grinned through the sarcasm before he lifted his shoulders in a slow roll of a shrug before he stepped back towards his things to make a quick getaway before anyone else got themselves confused. “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific ‘cause that sounds like most of the guys out in the audience on nights like tonight. Though you might have more luck in one of the other rooms ‘less he likes to swing both ways.”

Malachi might have been joking, but Aiden wasn’t amused. To his sarcasm, she simply gave a raised brow, saying nothing at all. It wasn’t an offense she wanted to use her fists to rectify, but she certainly wasn’t going to laugh either; Why humor anyone making fun of her? “More specific like... a name? Or what?” She could give him a name, but it seemed like a waste of time if he was simply going to turn around tell her he didn’t know. “I have no idea how he likes to... swing. And I’m not interested in finding out. He owes me...” Here she trailed off, rolling shoulders herself, “a conversation.” Perhaps it was a little too clear that it wasn’t a conversation at all that she was after, but she didn’t particularly care. There was no incentive to be discreet.

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

adamdxrand:

Adam wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Aiden wasn’t ever exactly subtle in her dislike of anything, least of all her dislike of him. Maybe he simply hoped that trying to reach out might change her mind, reverse whatever had gone on to bother her. But then again, she simply seemed a volatile person, stubbornly so, so maybe he was wasting his time. He couldn’t say why it bothered him behind a general unease, the typical anxiety of making some kind of misstep following him around like his own shadow.

“Well.” He shifted a little on his feet, hands fidgeting behind his back. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just, I don’t know. You seemed sort of on edge and I was wondering if something happened, I guess. Or if…” He shrugged, letting the sentence trail off because he didn’t really know what he was doing here. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

Aiden took stock in body language above all else each and every time because more often than not, people weren’t aware enough to hide theirs. Adam’s with the fidgeting and the slight shift of body weight, was telling in a fashion; There was a hesitance in speech, a thing that hinted about considerations of boundaries, but his body language spoke of nerves that weren’t quite betrayed in speech pattern. She made him nervous? Good.

She nearly laughed, though there would have been no warmth in the sound, before she decided it wasn’t worth the effort, he wasn’t worth the effort. “Again, what made you think if something had happened, you’d be the person I wanted to talk to?” It was nothing but a blunt statement that was simply true. “Yeah, well, you did.” A pause, before lips curved marginally in the corners, “Quit while you’re ahead.”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

remykane:

“I didn’t think you’d want to be ordered to ‘come’ like a dog either—” Lucienne’s words echo in her head, to mind that temper, to remember honey catches more flies than vinegar. Yet, it still bristled, patience at a low.

Similar to her brother, Aiden couldn’t do anything without being told to. Perhaps it allowed them to rest with an easier conscience knowing they were just the messenger. Either way, they sought direction and Remy had the firm hand to give it to them.

“So, do what you want to do and join me. Now.” The last part was more to speak of the urgency of the matter rather than in demand. Still, she had lost interest in wasting anymore time convincing Aiden to come along. Remy had turned and began walking away.

Another shrug was Aiden’s initial response as she worked to find an answer that might explain the way she felt about orders. “Depends. I don’t like being made tame.” It wasn’t quite an answer, but it was an address to the most relevant portion; Aiden would take orders all day, everyday, if they were the sort that left her autonomous in the few ways that mattered to her and didn’t try to fit her into some box that was for docile things.

She’d also happily accept the idea of being left to do as she liked here, but that was a thing that appealed to her because it was freely destructive. Perhaps Remy didn’t understand that orders of a specific sort were the only semblance of organized purpose her destruction accepted, most of all when she was like this. It was like directing lightening, she’d take a target with no protest, but she couldn’t be made to change how she’d do what she would do and she was inevitably going to do something.

As Remy walked away, Aiden simply stood still for a moment or two. It wasn’t a gesture made of hesitation or to make a point, but simply one done to give her a moment to consider. There were options. She could walk away from the Boss, but there were, hypothetically, consequences to such a thing, not that she necessarily cared. She could also follow and indulge curiosity. There was nothing to say she couldn’t simply refuse and walk away if the other’s desire didn’t please once she got specifics. With that in mind, she followed after the other, lengthening stride until she was a half step behind the other, saying nothing at all.

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

remykane:

“Well, if you find that entertaining enough, I suppose I could ask my brother to come join me.” Not the ideal choice given his strange behavior as of late. Probably the smartest, considering it had been a while since she actually ordered him to do something and it’d give them a moment to discuss whatever was going on. She’s long since loosened the reins on her brother, she’d hate to end up regretting it.

Nonetheless, she had asked Aiden to come all the way here—not that her inconvenience bothered Remy in the slightest, it was her own. The thought of having to contact her brother, get him over here, prolong the inevitable… A sigh slipped past her lips. She can only hope the potential of doing something exciting was enough to persuade Aiden otherwise.

"I didn't claim that, but if that's what you want," Aiden answered with another shrug, fighting for impassivity when the other's response had temper rising, had a sharp retort linger at the tip of her tongue, only barely, barely held back.

There was something about this conversation with Remy that was making her feel a bit like a child again; It was like she couldn't find the script, it felt like no matter what answer she gave it wasn't going to be the right one, the one that Remy wanted and she didn't like it. Aiden didn't hold with all this, with phrases that were oblique and danced around the point or were meant to manipulate to desired effect. She had walked away from all this forever ago, from people trying to guide her into conversations that shied away from the plain speech she favored.

A breath and then another, before she felt something in her snap just slightly; It was enough to bring forth the sharp retort as she stood. "You know I won't beg to be your choice. So if you want to use me, I'm here. Otherwise call for him, do what you want and I’ll do the same.”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

adamdxrand:

“I just - wondered if you were alright.” Adam offered by way of explanation - studying her for a few quiet seconds. He had always had the impression that Aiden had never liked him, though he could never entirely place why that might be. He had never done anything to her as far as he was aware - really, he’d never interacted with her much at all. There was an edge to her that made him uneasy in the few times their paths had crossed - emblematic of the violence and everything about the Ring that unsettled him so deeply. “Anything I can help with, or…?”

There was something thoroughly unlike Aiden in the dislike she held for Adam. Or perhaps, it wasn’t unlike her at all. She had always simply felt and the “negative” emotions always came easier for her than the “positive” ones. Was it her fault that she was happiest in bringing forth destruction? Perhaps, perhaps not. But all the same, she couldn’t quite stand Adam; Adam and his pretty face, Adam and his apparent morals, Adam and the way he simply emanated the sort of golden persona she would never have, Adam and the way he was somehow likable in a way she simply didn’t know how to be.

She hadn’t dug into the feeling enough to really know where it came from, whether she simply found him irritable because such things didn’t really belong in this world or because he was her opposite in any and every possible way that could matter to her. 

It changed nothing though. She simply disliked him.

“If I wanted to make confession, I’d go to Church, Durand.” A pause, as gaze flickered over his form in brief, something that hinted at condescension rolling over her in it. “And you couldn’t help me even if I wanted you to.”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

malachiheron:

Where: L’Empire Rouge Availability: Anyone ( and everyone )

“You look lost? Or am I the one who’s lost and this isn’t actually my dressin’ room? An’ while we’re on the subject, I think I should have my own rather than needin’ to share with others. I mean, come on. What’s a little privacy cost these days anyways? Don’t answer that one. I really don’t want to hear that it costs more than I am worth ‘cause I’ll have you know, I’m worth a lot here.” He grinned, sweat beading on his forehead from the show that he’d finished not ten minutes earlier. There would be a small congregation, ready to offer up what they thought would earn them a favor or a turn in his presence – it wasn’t usually enough for more than a mere glance or a few seconds, but Malachi REVELED in the attention. Not to mention the sound of his own voice, but what good self respecting stripper didn’t? No one else paid to hear it. They only paid to look at him which was probably why most chose not to listen to him in the first placce.

Aiden was lost, of that there was little doubting, least of all not from the way she stopped uncertainly in the doorway and simply stood slack as he spoke. “No.” A pause as she realized that wasn’t what she meant, that his ramblings had gotten her turned around and she had answered incorrectly, or, well, perhaps it was correctly depending on which question she was answering. “I mean, yes.” A frustrated sound slipped from lips, “It’s me. I got turned around.” Eyes sharp, attentive, and seeking flickered from him to the hallway as he continued on, listening to absolutely none of it, before a string of curses slipped from lips as she came to the conclusion that the person she was supposed to be having a chat with ( to put it kindly ) had disappeared; Either she had taken a wrong turn when following them, or they had vanished into another room to wait her out. It wasn’t necessarily a problem, but she wasn’t best pleased. Gaze ( and attention ) returned to the other within the room, however, as she realized, that perhaps she could use him. “You didn’t see a man walk by here two minutes ago, maybe, did you? Tall, like 1.9 meters, white shirt, jeans, brown shoes?”

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

remykane:

“I could ask you the same thing.”

The footsteps, the pause, all nonverbal cues to turn around, a demand for attention. Yet, they were unheeded, leaving her disappointed, if not a bit irritated. Yet, not enough for her to lash out.

“I hadn’t been aware my wall could be so enthralling.” A tease, meant more to lower any tension than be rude. Still, this was Remy, only one person she couldn’t be outright rude to.

“Are you?” It was a question asked with a combination of blunt forthrightness and an inability to entirely grasp the subtlety of what Remy wanted. Matching subtleties and meeting nonverbal demands had never quite been her strong suit; Aiden was more a creature made for quick and dirty rather than understated desire and soft implication. Such things were often lost on her if she wasn’t paying close attention to body language.

Yet, even for the, perhaps, unforgivable bluntness of her question, demeanor didn’t lack respect, it was simply demonstrated in a fashion that was Aiden’s rather than a type more universal. Fingers stilled from their repetitive clenching as her gaze focused, pulling restless energy that all but emanated from her previously into something that resembled the quiet attentiveness that was her at her most controlled, marred by what crackled within her, begging for release. It was effort, especially now, but she knew such things were expected in a fashion.

A shrug followed, as Remy teased, aware that was what the comment was, but taking it seriously all the same, responding with something that made sense in her head, though Aiden wasn’t sure if it would mean anything to the other. “It’s not really about the wall. It’s just a blank canvas for thoughts to take shape.” 

[aidenxcarter-blog1]

Location: Arcana Ring Headquarters Availability: Open

Fingers clenched, nails biting into skin for a moment, before tension released, the gesture repetitive, as she sat otherwise utterly still; The small movement was the only sign that all was not well in the land of Aiden and c o n t r o l was wearing thin. There were times where she could ignore it, times where circumstance allowed her to catch it fast enough and find a quick burn to ease off what she had never been able to help but have.

But for the time being, she was stuck, circumstance preventing pursuit of a way to ease things off because she had been told to stay, to wait with the promise of possible work lingering on the lips of the one who bid her so. 

She was running out patience.

Footsteps split quiet, but gaze didn’t flicker from the blank spot on the wall that was a stand-in for something more substantial as thoughts drifted, until she felt eyes on her.

“Got something to say or do you just want to stare?”

[in-tj]

She was destruction given form and purpose. Hers was an elegant savagery.

Rachel Vincent, Menagerie (via in-tj)