#aria001

the deal was, he'd come in and do aunt isolde's bidding because she knew people interested in the races; bloodstock is something he knows and has been part of the devlin circuit for years. it's far beyond the ranch lifestyle of willow glen hence the convenience of having a nephew in the know who just also happens to be the son of a private charter aviation empire who flies planes.

this was the deal he'd agreed to.

he hadn't expected to be paraded around like a trophy, being introduced to mr so and so, and madam so and so's daughter, following which he'd have to extend all his braincells into pretending to be interested in whatever she's studying, and not be aware of the fact that he's being looked at like he's every bit the gleaming cup his aunt's presenting him as anyway.

" c'mon izzy aren't you beneath this stuff already - " he complains the moment they get a sliver of respite. he plucks a drink off a passing tray. " the whole subtle-unsubtle set up thing, " he's squinting against the light staring out at the scattered crowd. " 's too much of a cliché mate. "

he spots her then, all dazzling smile and pretty laugh looking very at home with the people she seems to know, the same way she'd looked beneath neon lights. whatever aunt isolde is saying about his informal tone out in public, he doesn't hear.

a hand slides into his pocket as he watches, unmoving, only to throw a careless, " be with you in a little. thinking of taking up smoking to catch a break, " at his aunt.

Amir had spent most of his day in the library scanning through shelves for texts that might interest him. Admittedly, it wasn’t as nice as the one in England, and Thomas wasn’t currently around, which meant it was lacking the company, but it wasn’t all terrible. He’d been able to find a couple books of Russian poetry, and it might take some time to translate them, but at least it was something new. So new and tempting in fact, that he couldn’t put it down even to walk the halls back to his room. Small Russian dictionary open on top of the textbook he walk through the halls with his nose buried, not noticing the other person until it was too late and he’d bumped into them. 

Putting on his most polite smile Amir started to speak before raising his head. “I’m so sorry, I really should have been paying more attention to where I was g-” He cut himself off when his eyes did finally raise and caught sight of the woman in front of him. The lighting was better in this hallway, both of them more clean and dressed appropriately, but they few faces he’d seen in that place were not ones he would ever forget. 

Books forgotten about they fell to the floor with a thud as Amir was pulled back into a memory. A dark memory that he was reminded of every night where the pain was so intolerable. He’d always done his best to not cry out, not give them the satisfaction, but every new torture method they found he would eventually succumb to. Even just thinking about it now, every scar on his body seemed to heat up and he had to swallow down the urge to scream. He took a step back, brow furrowed and shock evident on his face as he muttered under his breath, “What the fuck...”

This was her right?! Well, the hair was the same...and the smell was the same too. Seeing her from behind made it a bit hard but he could tell it was his old friend! He was surprised he ran into her in hoenn again! Slowly, he approached her from behind and decided to try to prank her! She enjoyed pranks, if he remembered right. Slowly, he came behind her and put his hands over her eyes. 

“Guess who~?” 

“I never prepared myself mentally to confront monsters.” And she probably would never be ready. Today, she would stand tall. Tomorrow, as well. But it is not as if she would be able to recall this decision. It would be natural to reach that conclusion and she would keep a constant without being able to remember it. 

Time: 11:00 PM

Location: Domino’s Pizza

Status: 1x1 for @ariaruysch

Aladdin wasn’t picky when it came to food, but he was entirely certain that some God may have smiled on the world when they created pizza. It always tasted good, even cold, but somehow it tasted even better the closer it got to midnight. Maybe Aladdin just appreciated his food because of the many nights in his youth he’d gone hungry, but damn, pizza was a gift.

He had tried to wait for Aria to get there before ordering, but the guys behind the counter were giving him the eye, like they were expecting him to snag something and run out without paying... To be fair he had done that once or twice several years ago, but he was a different man now. He’d ordered a large pepperoni and sausage and a two-liter of Dr. Pepper and was on his third slice, drinking the soda straight out of the bottle while he looked out the window at the passing cars on the street. The night was clear and warm, a sleepiness in the air that made him want to rage and claw against it, to go running into the night, to climb the tallest building in town and sit at the top and... eat some more pizza. Yeah, in the moonlight, that would be nice, he thought. Just like the old days when he had nowhere else to go but up, both figuratively and literally. 

He had seen that beautiful girl the first time when he’d been climbing... The girl that had made him feel unworthy to walk the same earth just by looking at her. He had been nothing then but a pair of converse tennis shoes splitting at the soles, a pair of cargo shorts he’d shoplifted from a goodwill, and a hooded sweatshirt that his mother had worn a lot when she was sick and cold all the time. 

He was better now, or at least he was getting there, molding himself into this new, worthy person. His shoes were new and his clothes were clean and his hair was cropped perfectly. Now all he had to do was learn how to behave like one of the good ones.

...maybe drinking soda straight from a bottle and eating pizza straight out the box at eleven o’ clock on Monday wasn’t the best way to do that. Oh, well. Start fresh tomorrow, just like with his desire to quit smoking.

He was still daydreaming when the bell over the door jingled, signalling the entrance of someone else. He registered the sound, but it didn’t draw him out of his haze until the chair across from his was scraping across the floor.