wickerpark | There can be only one....

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There can be only one....

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.

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Elisha tilted his back against the chair and to the side to pin...whoever with a bland stare. Ah, Hadyn Novak, newly minted Nine of Spades, he thought. The Jack's little brother. They hadn't been introduced yet - but likely that would have changed soon, in any case, since Hadyn's best friend Miss Zoë Kattalakis was embroiled in planning a small wedding to Elisha's best friend Victor. Either way, he knew him by sight if nothing else. He knew his challenges tended to be violent and bloody, and that was the way things went with the Novaks.

"You've been holding back, Te, darling," he drawled, twirling a pen between his fingers as he switched his smirk between the Jack and the Nine. "None of this is an emergency; we can finish planning Her Majesty's latest Twelfth Night brainstorm another time." Anything that smacked of the medieval was Argine Rainmayr Fioro's very favorite thing.

Still, while he stood up, he didn't leave just yet. "I hear congratulations are in order, Mr. Novak."

Elisha was handsome, he had to give the Ace that. And... well informed, or connected. Of course, the man knew Victor. Victor had stood around to watch the quick match, even smirked a little at Hadyn before leaving. It was still odd, really, dealing with that man who was as loyal a beast as anyone could hope for a Spade and yet utterly unpredictable.

"Twelfth Night, sounds magical." He said, remembering himself just barely as he watched Elisha stand, eyes traveling the length of the man before smirking just a little. "Depends on the party, I suppose." Hadyn said, shrugging a little. "But thank you, My Lord. I believe this officially makes me among the youngest to achieve the rank, a rare feat."

He paused though, not yet moving to unblock the door as Tegan squinted at them both while chewing on her pen. "You know," he said, "I was just about to.....steal your Jack away to celebrate. Would be quite the scandal if she didn't have a chaperon."

"Hadyn...." Tegan started, but stopped when he only glanced at her a moment.

"Unless, of course, you are previously engaged. In which case I promise to return your beautiful Jack unharmed, slightly drunk, and utterly pleased with herself." He paused again, frowning just slightly. "Well, assuming she doesn't go home with anyone, that is."

Victor had, several months before he challenged a Ten, blandly commented that who knows but that Laureline Novak might point her youngest in his direction. It was the kind of throwaway statement he only ever made when they were alone and with whiskey, and even so it said very little about Victor and more about the Novaks. Few people dared to challenge Victor Fox, after all, and anyone he challenged tended to be marked for death.

That was how it had been as long as Elisha had been in the Deck, which was going on a decade now. He'd had the rank of Seven a few years past when Andrew and Argine had named him Ace after Edgar had died in a car accident. He snorted a slight laugh, though, as Hadyn Novak gave him a onceover and invited him along. A "chaperone."

He waved off Tegan's protest. Somehow, despite his deliberately light and charming demeanor, he still hadn't lost the slight air of command from the IDF and Mossad. It had the upper Clubs - even Tegan, sometimes - looking a little green. "If you're impressing me into duty I'm going to require at least one scotch." He tilted his head. "Or rye whiskey, I suppose, if you're going to Mooseknuckle."

It was a good bar, but it was a dive. Single malt was a little rich for their blood.

"I really can't say no to Mooseknuckle, given I do enjoy testing my luck and bar dark enough you can't tell what is on the floor. Adds...atmosphere." Hadyn said, smiling easily before he glanced at Tegan and stared at her for a moment. She, honestly, looked like she might have been ready to kill him, and was vigorously mouthing to uninvite the Ace at Hadyn.

Well. He certainly wasn't going to do that.

"Well, we have some time before the others arrive....but I think I can manage to find you a suitable whiskey. It does pay having friends in low places, who know all the best hidey holes." He said, moving back out of the door way. Lifting a hand he waved Tegan off as he let Elisha move through the door.

"Darling....I can't say no to a handsome face, come on. Surely you know this by now." He said, with no lack of amusement, to Tegan.

"I will poison you in your sleep," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she stood to grab her things and follow.

Elisha could hear the other two behind his back, and allowed himself one single eyeroll, though whether it was at Tegan's tension - she'd been Jack for a year and knew he didn't bite - or Hadyn Novak's flamboyant flirting. It wasn't the first time he'd been flirted with that obviously. He ran arts administration; it was a job hazard the way getting shot at had been one before the Deck.

Still, curious that he'd been invited along, he thought as he wrapped a scarf around his neck and zipped his jacket for the short walk to Mooseknuckle. He still had the thin Mediterranean skin, and didn't much care for the Deck weather when the temperatures dropped. Especially since Hadyn and Tegan mostly had their heads together. He only turned back towards them as they were approaching the bar.

"Is there a curfew I need to keep in mind?" He drawled. "Tomorrow's Saturday and we don't usually force our Jacks to do their five am pushups on the weekend."

"As long as no one is planning to turn into a pumpkin at midnight, I don't see a reason for a curfew." Hadyn replied easily to Elisha, before looking back at Tegan. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing...." Tegan replied to him, waving him off with a shake of her head before moving up to walk beside the Ace. She had pinched him a bit before, reminding him he was laying it on a little thick...but he'd ignored her. It wasn't, after all, like he was out to make friends with the Ace. And really, admitting the man was attractive wasn't the worst crime.

Still, he probably should have suspected that Tegan was going to move past both of them suddenly, when she spotted Avery and Jordan waiting for them outside the bar. Both the Diamond and the Jack of Spades regarded Elisha a bit curiously- before Tegan said something to usher them inside.

"I don't think she approves." Hadyn said, smirking a little. "Of me. But, well...you wanted a whiskey, yes? And here we are, though I suppose one day I will have to really examine my attachment to this place." Mooseknuckle was, generally, frequented by a certain group of people. The lower ranks, the actors and artist, mainly it was people that didn't want to be seen by those around them.

Hadyn had started coming here after his cousins had caught him out with a boy. He rather liked that the rest of his family wouldn't be caught dead in this particular bar.

"Well, you Spades do have a certain reputation, Mr. Novak," Elisha said as they stepped into the bar and peanut shells crunched under their feet. People didn't part like the Red Sea for anyone in Mooseknuckle, not even the Ace of Clubs, so he pushed their way towards the front of the bar. "The Koval, neat," he told Eric in a slightly raised voice before turning back to Hadyn.

"You know. Dark, dangerous, irresistible to romantics across the Deck." His tone was as dry as dust, because if anyone was definitely not a romantic, it was Elisha Kagan. He'd grown out of that stage ten odd years before, at least. Truthfully, he'd always been too pragmatic to be considered much of one. He supposed it made him an odd artist. "She'd probably worried you're going to take my heart and crush it under your heel, and you must admit, a broken-hearted Ace is probably more than she signed up for when Lancelot left."

"I don't know, I think they all resist me very well." Hadyn replied with a bit of a sardonic tone as he ordered his own drink. When Eric brought him the glass and the bottle to pour, he waved the man off. "You can leave the bottle, put it on Jordan's tab." Eric, thankful smirked a little at that and nodded before moving on to the next customer.

"However," Hadyn went on, looking back at Elisha. "I cannot deny the 'dark', and possibly 'dangerous'. We're all a bit of a train wreck, and tend of leave mayhem in our wake." Though he imagined that was not the sort of 'dangerous' that Elisha had meant to imply. "And luckily for you, and Tegan I suppose, I'm rather unlikely to break hearts. Generally speaking, I'm sure you have to....mm, well, be someone other than me." Hadyn had friendships, close and loving ones- he did not have relationships. Drew told him it was because he was just impossible for people to deal with.

The heart was probably right.

"I've accepted the role of 'bad boy', or the 'guy you have fun with, but don't take home to mom.' There really is nothing to fear...plus, and I mean no offense...you don't strike me as the sort to let his heart get broken, My Lord Ace." Well, at least that was the sort of reputation Elisha had.

"Much of the Deck is a bit of a train wreck," Elisha said. He included himself there, but honestly - the Deck seems mostly composed of messed up types that ought to be seeking some kind of therapy. There are a few exceptions, but most of those active in the politics of the Deck have mess written all over them.

Hadyn Novak was one of those. He didn't know the Spade well - there was no reason to - but there was plenty of reason to be aware of his brother, the Jack, and his mother, one of the more lethal Tens. He'd taken care over the years to seem harmless and beneath her notice, but his former association with Sieben hadn't helped there. Being friends with Victor didn't, either; most people assumed that Elisha was far more than just a glass artist and a competent administrator. They weren't wrong, but he'd just rather they take him more at face value. It made certain aspects of his job easier.

Still, he shrugged, sipping his whiskey. "There are worse roles to embrace," he said before giving Hadyn a bit of a knowing look and an amused smile. "I'm a little old for heartbreak these days," he said. "It happens a few times, and then your heart develops enough scar tissue to make it a little unlikely, you know?"

Ah, Sieben. Hadyn half thought that one of the reasons his brother had decided to 'challenge' Sieben was that he'd rather disapproved of Hadyn's relationship (as it were) with the former Jack of Spades. It had been an odd one, punctuated with slightly creepy behavior. Something Zoe had also experienced in her move from the Hearts to Spades, and eventual rise to Seven.

Hadyn also knew that most people only thought of him as 'Jordan's younger brother'. It made it very unlikely that anyone took much notice of him beyond that- he'd long gotten used to being in the background.

"I don't know, really. I've never had my heart broken, or stolen." He admitted as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. Setting the bottle aside, he turned his attention to his glass looking up at Elisha as he did so. "Goes against the image, you know, to fall in love. Or to get your heartbroken."

And it also would have helped to be...lovable. Hadyn often felt it was an unlikely outcome for him- if he ever married, it would be to someone his family chose for him. Love was not required, in such cases, merely the ability to reproduce at least once.

"I am surprised, though, that you even agreed to come tonight. Most people find me far too obnoxious to take the invite when offered."

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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

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."

"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."

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