[god, on any given day, on any good day, he fucking hates the man, now. Aiden thinks he's so fucking noble, plowing through all of Chicago to get to a mob boss. Aiden's going to be the literal death of him, when he gets home, because he can't let go of a grudge. Aiden's a fucking maniac]
[but they were friends, once. they used to sit in the park, just outside the Merlaut and play chess and talk and trade wit. it wasn't his fault they went so very wrong -- it's not his fault the feelings are complicated again, for all that he's only really half himself, right now, thanks to all this bullshit]
[but they're not getting into that, unless it's what it takes to get the ghosts of his past out of her head. he sighs, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face, that in mind, and then hums]
We did. But there was someone else, there, with us -- a second hacker. [he shakes his head faintly, expression still distant, though now for different reasons] They got caught, digging for something beyond just Blume's money, and got us caught, too, in the process. [Aiden didn't help, on that front. if he'd just fucking stayed in the system like he told him to, no one would have noticed them, but no. no, he had to cut the connection, and that was when they got caught, too. like running in front of a fucking T-Rex]
[ ... ah, that's that anger. much better]
[he exhales another breath, trying to dismiss it again, and it comes out closer to a laugh, albeit without humor, to a sob. very deliberately, he pulls himself out of his head and makes eye contact with Tifa. very deliberately, he puts a hand to his brace] They came for us, not long afterwards.
no subject
[god, on any given day, on any good day, he fucking hates the man, now. Aiden thinks he's so fucking noble, plowing through all of Chicago to get to a mob boss. Aiden's going to be the literal death of him, when he gets home, because he can't let go of a grudge. Aiden's a fucking maniac]
[but they were friends, once. they used to sit in the park, just outside the Merlaut and play chess and talk and trade wit. it wasn't his fault they went so very wrong -- it's not his fault the feelings are complicated again, for all that he's only really half himself, right now, thanks to all this bullshit]
[but they're not getting into that, unless it's what it takes to get the ghosts of his past out of her head. he sighs, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face, that in mind, and then hums]
We did. But there was someone else, there, with us -- a second hacker. [he shakes his head faintly, expression still distant, though now for different reasons] They got caught, digging for something beyond just Blume's money, and got us caught, too, in the process. [Aiden didn't help, on that front. if he'd just fucking stayed in the system like he told him to, no one would have noticed them, but no. no, he had to cut the connection, and that was when they got caught, too. like running in front of a fucking T-Rex]
[ ... ah, that's that anger. much better]
[he exhales another breath, trying to dismiss it again, and it comes out closer to a laugh, albeit without humor, to a sob. very deliberately, he pulls himself out of his head and makes eye contact with Tifa. very deliberately, he puts a hand to his brace] They came for us, not long afterwards.