What Not to Do (Kallisti)

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden’s right leg bounced almost uncontrollably. Having Sage nestled closely with him in the backseat of the limo did surprisingly little to curb his anxiety. Tonight was supposed to be fun, a break from the monotony of work and experimentation. Aiden was a man that relished in such opportunities, but for the first time in his life he had found it to be a challenge. His mind kept going back to the Spear.

Dimitri, Sage, and Cooper had all seemingly ganged up to convince him that it would be overly conspicuous to walk into Nox’s show with a large weapon. They were right, of course, but Aiden would not hear their arguments for days. Sage was the one to finally get through to him. Aiden eventually broke down and they had all settled upon keeping it locked up safe in the trunk of Cooper’s limo. It still did not sit well with Aiden. Anyone could break into the trunk if they had half a mind to, but then Cooper would be with it the entire time. If Aiden couldn’t trust Cooper, then who could he trust?

Cooper is no God. If the Atharim have even the slightest whiff of this… Aiden thought to himself before shaking his head and taking another pull from his chilled whiskey. He had eased up on the drinking as of late, but his nerves depended upon it tonight. He almost lit another cigarette, but his coterie had been bearing down upon him with that as well. It wouldn’t do well to start chain smoking now. Better to wait until he had a few more whiskeys. Instead, he pulled Sage a little closer and let his leg slow to a halt. Aiden exhaled as Dimitri looked up from his oversized Wallet.

“We’re confirmed for the VIP guest list – not that I had any doubts. What is your relation to this… Nox?” Dimitri asked before taking a sip of his red wine. It was rare to see the man so relaxed, but Aiden had to admit it looked good on Dimitri. He was sporting a white suit coat with golden lapels, black button up dress shirt opened slightly at the neck, and shiny wingtip shoes; Aiden had obviously dressed the man.

Aiden was wearing a similar outfit, although his colors were strictly red and black. There was no dress shirt to be seen beneath Aiden’s two button dress coat and he donned a pair of fine leather boots in place of the wingtips. A thin gold chain rested across his collar bone, playing off the light and complimenting the dusting of gold glitter that he had sprinkled through his swept back coiffure. Ruby ear studs pulled the entire outfit together into something that said punk-rocker-goes-to-the-Grammys.

“I met him through Sage. He’s the man that helped guide me through my budding ‘Godhood,’” Aiden replied casually, squeezing Sage’s shoulder at the mention of his name – if only to prevent that same hand from lighting another menthol.

Dimitri nodded thoughtfully and let his gaze drift to the passing traffic. He let the Wallet slip onto the seat next to him and began drinking more regularly from his fluted glass. Aiden checked the map on his Wallet as a silence descended between them. Five more minutes and Cooper would be pulling the limo up to the Kallisti. Aiden finished off his whiskey and poured a splash more into his glass before turning his attention to Sage.

“Babe, I just don’t understand how Nox found himself getting into this. What has gotten into him that he is dancing on a stage?” Aiden asked. He was not one to judge. If anything, he was mildly irritated that Nox had not reached out to him. Aiden was an ex-rock star. Who better to talk to than a man who had toured the continents and sold-out stadiums? He let the irritation pass, “Last we spoke, he was worried about the Snakes… Isn’t this a little exposed for him?”