There can be only one....

[maskofhearts]

If someone had told him ten years ago that he'd be a Nine of Spades by 22, he would have laughed in their face. He was more, or less, convinced that by 20 someone was going to have put a knife through his back long before he could imagine what being a Nine of Spades felt like. But here he was, he thought as his breathing slowly calmed, his chest heaving less and less as the seconds passed. He looked down at the face of Aylmar Woodward, empty- glassy eyes staring back at him as the blood pooled around the body. Looking up, he could see Jordan given him the standard expression- caught between disapproval and mild relief. Over his brother's shoulder, Hadyn could see Katya looking back at him with even more disapproval, and possibly annoyance. Accidents happened, but he imagined that few people thought it was really an accident that Hadyn's knife had seated itself between the older man's ribs and into his liver. By the time the medics arrived there was nothing left to be done.

If you had also told him that by 22 he would have personally been the cause of four people's deaths in a challenge, he would have been very hard pressed to believe it.

Turning away from the scene on the floor, Hadyn bent down and picked up his knife before he walked slowly toward the bench that marked out his side of the arena, barely glancing at Julien as he cleaned the blade and set it down. His mentor's face was harder to read, like a blank canvas that watched the scene play out without much concern for the outcome. After a moment of silence stretched out between them, there was a slight 'hmph', before the man turned and looked Hadyn over.

"Quite the body count you've started," he said, looking back at the corpse that was being collected. Looking up, Hadyn regarded him carefully, trying to gleen whatever he could from the empty, mild look on Julien's features. Ever a difficult man to read, Hadyn thought, frowning just a little.

"It wasn't planned," Hadyn said, "but...."

"Had to make Nine, mm? With Brother dearest's promotion...." Yes, that was one way to look at it. Two ranks, that is what he'd had to jump to get there, and that had been no easy feat. Jordan, generally, kept his pace moderate as he moved up the ranks. Slow and steady as he kept his eye on Hadyn's progress almost as much as his own. Their mother had determined Hadyn should never been far behind Jordan- logically because should Jordan become King, he could appoint Hadyn to Ace and it looked more reasonable if Hadyn's rank matched the responsibilities. Illogically, Hadyn wondered if Laureline hoped he would get himself killed trying to keep pace with his brother. "Well, to each their own I suppose."

Hadyn rolled his eyes a little, picking up the towel as he watched Julien move away and blend into the departing gawkers. Ah, well....From 7 to 9. Two ranks. It wasn't the first time it had ever been done, at least.

Comments

[cipherspeak]

Sieben had liked to think of himself as careless and...suave, Elisha supposed, but he'd always had a tendency to fixate on people he could tell himself were 'innocents.' Elisha had been one, nearly a decade before, though he'd already been jaded between dealing with his mother and a rather violent turn in the Israeli military. He had, in fact, been recruited by Mossad shortly before he ran into Sieben Dietrich in Monte Carlo.

It was no surprise, then, that Sieben fell into his old habits. Zoë had been first, and Elisha rather thought that initially that was as due to Victor's interest as anything else. Hadyn was, of course, right under Sieben's nose and the younger brother of a rather protective Ten who also happened to be Sieben's chief rival for his position. In short, Sieben had remained stupid about his relationship decisions right until someone took care of the problem once and for all.

All of which was not really the point now, he thought, tipping his head at Hadyn. Hadyn was on the surface vivacious and yes, obnoxious, but under that...Elisha detected some isolation, distance from other people whether deliberately or not. He'd make a brilliant spy, Elisha reflected. "Well, you were obnoxious. Tegan might have killed you on the spot if she didn't like you so much. But people tell me I'm obnoxious, too, so I'm immune to it." No, he wasn't. But he was bored, and not in the mood to say no to a free drink.

[maskofhearts]

"Is there really such a thing? Being immune to obnoxious behavior. If there is, my brother is in need of that- My Poor Jack has far too much to deal with when it comes to me." Hadyn said with an easy smile before he lifted his whiskey to his lips and took a sip.

In truth, Jordan was one of the few people who spent enough time with Hadyn to know there was more to the Spade than an easy smile, and a quick wit. His brother, more or less, just sighed these days. He knew what Hadyn did, even understood how Hadyn did it. Few people ever suspected the man behind the smile, and when plied with alcohol? Well they tended to say much more than they noticed.

Hadyn would never have admitted it, but he was a rather talented spy.

"I'm not sure that Tegan likes me so much as puts up with me, some of the time." He went on as he looked away from Elisha and glanced about the room. He nodded once, after catching Jordan's curious (and possibly mildly annoyed) stare, and then the girls each looking his way.

"I don't think they trust me in a social environment." Hadyn commented, smirking a little at the group across the bar. They, or at least his brother, was probably more annoyed that Hadyn had insisted they come out...and then he ditched them to talk to the Ace of Clubs. To be far, though- Elisha was attractive, and someone he could sleep with.

[cipherspeak]

"Probably more a matter of two obnoxious forces canceling each other out or something else pseudo-scientific." Elisha waved a hand vaguely; pretending to know nothing when it came to mathematics and the sciences had become a habit by now, a way of concealing his old life, despite the fact that working in glass required a firm grasp on chemistry. His life in the IDF and in Mossad had required that and more besides, but he hadn't wanted anyone to question why the new Three setting up a glass house and volunteering to sketch the then-toddler Eileen Eicheln would have such a grasp on the harder sciences. "But I've heard that it doesn't work on siblings anyway. Plus," he added, inclining his head at the new Jack of Spades.

"If you ask me, which I know you haven't, Jordan mostly looks suspicious of my intentions towards his little brother. Tegan is probably imagining new potential levels of hell, and Avery is just generally skeptical of the idea of love and romance ever ending well. " Rumor had it that one of his Eights was to blame for that, but rumor also had it that that particular problem had emerged several years before she and Lucas Addison ever dated.

[maskofhearts]

"Yes well, you might actually have something to worry about in that regard." Hadyn mused, thinking on how Jordan had very much expressed his disdain for Sieben. He imagined Jordan wished Hadyn settled on three things: someone closer to his age, something less dramatic, and someone within their own suit. Those, perhaps, the last point was negotiable. Slightly. "He forgets I'm capable of dealing with things on my own. But I suppose it would be cruel to rob him of his one purpose in life- making sure I reach the age of 30 in one piece."

That was, possibly, not even a joke.

"As for the other two- well...Tegan would forgive me, eventually. But only if I left you in one piece. Avery, well...I don't think she likes many Clubs. Male Clubs, to be exact." He winked at the girls after that, smiling at Avery's laugh and shake of her head. Given enough time, they'd convince Jordan to stop staring the two men at the bar down. They always did.

"Dramatics aside, My Dear Ace, I do have to warn you- my plan for tonight was quite simple. I planned to drink this entire bottle of whiskey, and wake in the morning with the most unpleasant of hangovers. My brother, for all his wisdom, would not allow this without distraction. Hence those lovely ladies at the table with him. However, it was also likely that they would take his side in this matter...which, alas, is where you come in. You, I am afraid, afford me the excuse to stand at the bar deep in conversation about...oh, the meaning of life. Or just the simple joy of being far too drunk to know left from right. Of course, I would hardly wish to subject you to such a display all night. You were, after all, a happy accident- I had planned to subject some other poor soul to my philosophical musings tonight. Eventually, however, I plan to migrate outside. Being winter, it will be blissfully empty, and with my brother being utterly distracted...ample time will be provided for me to finish this bottle in peace."

Though, really, it did beg the question of why he'd invited anyone out at this point. But Hadyn did have a reputation to maintain- one that included a cavalier response to killing another man.

[cipherspeak]

Elisha tilted his head to one side, sliding his glance over at Jordan Novak. But it certainly wasn't trepidition in his eyes, or concern for his safety. He'd risen to Eight without violence and then been appointed Ace by virtue of the fact that he'd asked the new king if he had absolutely lost his mind to appoint Argine and Edgar's little girl, Eileen, to the rank. The Deck as a whole didn't really know what Elisha Kagan was capable; he fully expected that Hadyn's king was one of the exceptions. Regardless, his glance at Jordan was mostly to ascertain whether the Jack's expression read what Hadyn said. And really - not quite. Jordan looked concerned, but Elisha was fairly certain that the concern was less related to the Ace of Clubs and more related to Hadyn's state of mind after his challenge ended the way challenges ended more frequently in Spades than anywhere else.

Still, he expected there was some truth to Hadyn's words. He had enough ears in Spade Castle to be aware of the political games the Bernards played with the Faces and among themselves; he came from enough money and had enough experience with government work in war-torn places to know that the Deck wasn't unique in this way.

"I'm fairly sure it's one specific Club," he murmured, just loudly enough to be heard over the noise in Mooseknuckle. Then Hadyn kept speaking, and Elisha's brows rose slowly as he took another drink of his bourbon. This time, when he tilted his head to one side, it was in direct response to Hadyn's words. "First," he said as he picked up the bourbon bottle and refreshed his glass. "It's Elisha. I hate to live and die by Suit stereotypes here, but we're not exactly formal in the Clubs, darling, and really, I spend all day with Diamonds and Spades calling me my lord Ace, so let's put a moratorium on it when we're at a dive bar, shall we? Second," he added with a faintly amused smirk as he swirled the whiskey in his glass. "It's none of my business, you can do what you want, and if you need someone to keep your brother from seeing you plan to drink an entire bottle of expensive American whiskey, I don't mind being used. But I am curious: do you always recite your evening plans like we're in a gothic novel? It's an interesting approach."

[maskofhearts]

"It is more fun to say 'all Clubs', really." Hadyn said, smirking a little as he tilted his head and took a slow drink from his glance. It wasn't really, that he was overly found of dramatic declarations, but he had to admit it was more entertaining than the simple truth. It was probably how grand rumors started, but Hadyn didn't much care or mind that.

He also pointed ignored Jordan. His brother would either give up, or eventually try to break up his affair with the bottle- which would have been a crying shame. More so if Jordan convinced the girls to try with him.

"Elisha, well then. I do hate to be a stereotype, but I feel I just cannot escape some. Though, tell me...how is one close friends to our my Lordly of Tens, Victor Fox, and not come to believe ones name is merely 'My Lord'? I have to ask for a friend, you see. He's dying to know." David had, after all, tried for years to stamp out that rather odd trait in Victor. He'd once expressed to Hadyn he never understood how someone could turn manners into such a precisely aimed insult.

"As for reciting plans- no. You might actually be the first to ever bear witness to them. However, if it has to be in a particular style- gothic novel sounds fun. Graphic novel would be more fun, but I'm not entire sure how to go about that." He grinned as he drained his glass and reached out to pour himself another. "I am pleased, however, you do not object to being used."