dark knight \\ aaron

[aaron seymour]

Aaron couldn't quite tell if Noelle was going to believe his story about the prank or not. He probably would have been better off just leaving it at 'strange text', but it was a slip of the tongue, trying to get a bit of a deeper explanation. He hoped that would be the first and last slip he has, because he couldn't afford brain farts. It, literally, could be the difference between life and death. He really couldn't remember a time, aside from this one, he had ever slipped up before. Never told someone a lie then a while later have a conversation and mention something that suddenly brings that lie to the surface, forgetting he had lied about it in the first place. He was probably one of the best people at keeping secrets, having more of his own in his last 35 years than most people have in a life time.

Watching a smile slowly lighten Noelle's face, he felt less tense. Either she believed him or decided it wasn't worth digging in deeper for. He preferred not to know which, satisfied with just the drop of subject. "Are you sure you're all right?" Well, almost. Aaron nodded, simply pretending to brush it off. Like it was nothing. He overreacted for no reason. "Oh yeah, I'm probly just tired is all. Been a long day." That was a legitimate excuse right? Surely she would know what a 'long day' felt like. They were both teachers, dealing with rebellious and hormonal teenagers for seven hours, sometimes more, a day; five days a week. Not to mention she was returning home from a hellish birthday evening. Of course, he didn't know that and repeatedly reminded himself as not to mention it. Now that would certainly around some suspicious questions.

Realizing he was still holding his phone, Aaron put it in the pocket of his leather jacket, keeping his gloved hand around it. If it vibrated again he wanted to be able to snatch it out quick, plus it was comfortable to keep his hands in his pockets. He felt something vibrate again, but this time it wasn't the phone. It was his stomach grumbling and reminding him of the dinner in his freezer awaiting his arrival. What time was it? It was around 8:00 when he and Noelle left the party. He did some quick time frames in his head and concluded it was close to 8:30 or so. Wow, it seemed so much later than that because of Daylight Savings Time, if it were summer it would be lighter out. Now it was as dark as the middle of the night by 7:30. Since it was still so early, he didn't feel as guilty eating dinner by the time he got home. It was always bad to go to bed right after eating a meal, it's an easy way to gain wait, since your body functions slow down when you sleep. Well, either way he would go for a run in the morning. Another bad thing about winter was the longer nights. He usually got up for a run around 4:30, five at the latest, which meant it was still rather dark. It didn't bother him though, it wasn't the same as a woman going out around the same time.

What seemed to him like ages later, they reached the intersection and he stopped, looking up and down the street they had come to. "Turn, or keep on?" It wasn't a busy street so there was no traffic lights or crosswalk. Just a stop sign, which people often blew by like it wasn't there. How hard was it to pause long enough to look for pedestrians? Considering it wasn't a street big on foot traffic it would only set you back a fraction of a second. No one actually stopped all the way at stop signs if there was no reason too; like a pedestrian, oncoming car, or cop, but it was still a law. Laws were meant to be 'bent' not 'broken' breaking and bending were two very different things. The difference between a smack on the back of the hand and a kick in the ass. Breaking laws could mean heavy consequences, like potential jail time, while bending laws meant maybe a warning and as far as points on your license or even a ticket. Small stuff.

[noelle ackerman]

i'm not always strong, oh i need you here
are you listening?
________________________________________________________

The man had seemingly relaxed, and nodded in answer to her question in a way that made her believe Aaron really was feeling better now. His faced didn't look as pale as it had the moment he had jumped away from her, and overall he didn't seem quite as tense. Yeah, there was still some tension there, but after a scare like that it wasn't bound to go away right off the bat. She was still a little on edge herself, despite how much she was trying to hide it, which was probably why Noelle had jumped herself when Aaron flinched away from her. In fact, she could tell that by the time she got home she would either have a tension headache or her shoulder muscles would be sore from how tightly she was carrying herself. That was nothing a little Tylenol and some sleep couldn't fix though. Noelle knew she would feel better when morning rolled around, even if she was still feeling a little paranoid or frustrated with her co-workers.

When he mentioned that he was probably tired from it being a long day, the woman's first reaction was to tilt her head back a little in an exasperated way and say, "Oh, tell me about it." Today was probably the longest day of her entire life, and it was November! Which meant that the days were getting shorter. But between school, her "party," and the other things that had happened throughout the course of the day she too felt completely worn out and ready to get home. Noelle wasn't going to go into details with him though, he probably didn't want to know about her crappy day when he may be having one as well. On top of that, she didn't want to talk about it yet. Lowering her eyes back to meet his, Noelle nodded. "Okay, well, if you're sure." She gave him a light simper, then began slowly began walking toward her apartment again. This was definitely becoming one of her longer trips home.

It seemed to have taken a while, but eventually they made it to the corner where Noelle had watched the cat run out from before darting across the street. Before even having the chance to guide the way from there, Aaron asked, "Turn, or keep on?" Her body was already sort of positioned in "turning," so the woman ended up looking back over her shoulder at him with a light grin and pointed down the street. "Turn." You know how there were some people who always made you feel annoyed while you were around them, and others that could never keep you from smiling? Aaron was the latter, for her. It wasn't that he even tried either, but there was something about him that Noelle really liked. Despite the fact that he seemed wise in his experience, there was also a bit of innocence channeling from something deep inside that the woman somewhat connected with. It wasn't the "something" that kept her guessing about him but it was a "something" that made her very much like his presence. It also made him completely adorable sometimes.

"Is there anything that I can do? To make tonight up to you, I mean? I know I said thank you already. but it doesn't seem like enough." He had been her knight and shining armor and she couldn't think of anything past "Thank you." That just seemed so corny and, well, not enough! For lack of a better way of putting it. However you wanted to say it though, Noelle felt as though she was in his debt until it sufficed enough for them both to agree that it was paid off. That meant that he wasn't going to get away with saying "No, it's all right, you don't owe me anything." Noelle had to be happy with it too, or else she would feel guilty for not repaying his kind actions. All he had to do was name it and she would do it for him. Well, you know, as long as it wasn't too expensive or far-fetched. She really doubted that she was going to be taking anyone on a tour of outer space in one of those flying tour bus things anytime soon. As long as it was nothing like that, she was completely on board.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Aaron Seymour
`Word Count: 744
`Lyrics By: Kelly Clarkson - Here Me
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me[/blockquote][/size]

[aaron seymour]

Too late Aaron noticed that Noelle had already began turning down the intersecting road before he stopped and had to ask. He even made it a point not to face the way to her house. So much for that. Well, at least there could be no suspicions about it now. "Oh." He said innocently as he turned to her and started after her. He had to admit that those occasional "slow" moments worked in his favor every time. He was just glad he did them on purpose or else he'd either be in a hole or sitting next to some guy named Moose at the prison cafeteria. He really wasn't looking foreword to being some inmate's bitch. Nah, he could sure hold his own but he may have to prove that by picking a fight first with one of the big guys. Bigger than him. Guys in prison were always huge, because there was nothing else to do except workout.

If there were no cars on the last street, there were even less on this one. They were now in the more residential area of the city and the most cars he saw were parked against the curb. They passed a beat up old Volkswagen Beetle, the one with the engine in the trunk, and then a rusted Toyota Tacoma. This wasn't the more ritzy part of town. He shouldn't talk though, he drove a Lincoln Towncar. Not something most people would picture a guy like Aaron in, but they also probably couldn't picture him as a professional killer either. Yet, he was. What he really wanted was a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The only thing was it was a loud machine, where as he could barely tell he turned his Lincoln on sometimes. Maybe he would get one anyway, and just use his Lincoln for jobs.

Aaron's hand was still around his phone but it was beginning to sweat in his glove from how hard he was grasping it. Figuring if he was going to get another message he would have by now, Aaron pulled his hand from his pocket and let it drop casually to his side. When Noelle asked if there was anything she could do to repay him for stepping in tonight, he narrowed his eyes at the sidewalk. She had been waiting for the right moment to ask, he could tell. The truth is, he really didn't want anything in return. He did it because it was right, and he wanted to. If it would have been an absolute stranger he would have done the same thing. Well, Noelle was still pretty much a stranger, but he at least knew her name and a lot more than he was supposed to at this point in the relationship, but she didn't know that.

"Don' worry 'bout it. Really. I'd've done the same had it been someone different." He was ready to leave his answer go at that, but something was telling him that she wouldn't be accepting that as an answer. He really wished she would because then they wouldn't be as "tied" as they would if there was some unfinished business. He would say she could buy him that Harley, but that wasn't really a fair trade-off and like he said, he wasn't looking for anything. "If yer that set on repayin' me, I'll think o' somethin' 'n' get back to ye." It might take a long, drawn out time, but he would come up with something eventually. It would probably end up being something silly and small, but it would be something.

[noelle ackerman]

hear me i'm crying out, i'm ready now
turn my world upside down, find me
________________________________________________________

They were now only a few minutes away from the Jade Garden apartment complex, which meant Noelle was almost home and almost to her warm living room and comfortable couch. She hoped that walking her home didn't put Aaron too much out of his way, because with the night growing more bitter it would make it an uncomfortably long walk. At least he was dressed warm with his scarf and everything. She would happily give him a ride home if he so requested, but if he didn't it would be much better that he was bundled up. The snowy weather was quickly approaching, as said by the weatherman, and even though the warm blood rushing through her veins still managed to keep the stinging chill off tonight's temperatures verified that fact. Plus, after living in Chicago long enough, you know that once November hits it's going to get cold at night.

Aaron shrugged off Noelle's offer, saying that he would have done the same for someone different. Well, someone different should still at least be nice enough to offer more than a thank you. Don't get her wrong, she liked his modesty compared to the self-serving egomaniacs out there, but it wasn't like he had picked up her newspaper after she had accidentally dropped it. She wasn't entirely satisfied with that response, but didn't want to be rude either so she kept her objections to herself. 'If yer that set on repayin' me, I'll think o' somethin' 'n' get back to ye.' That felt like something Noelle could agree to. Whether he liked it or not she was going to repay him somehow, eventually, so she thought it much better that it would be something that he wanted. "Sounds good." Her lips pressed together lightly, trying to hide the smile that didn't seem to want to go away. Why couldn't she stop acting like some silly teenager around him?! So, he was attractive, get over it, girl!

Finally coming to a stop after another couple of minutes, Noelle turned her body so it was facing Aaron and standing beside the steps of the building that she called her home. Gesturing quickly to the complex beside her, she said, "Well, I'm right here." That sounded like a corny line right out of a movie, but what else was she supposed to say. She assumed it to be better than, "Well, I'm home now, bye!" But her phrasing also left them in that awkward silence that normally came after that sentence. It was the silence that poked at her and told her that she was supposed to say something else before she left; nothing in particular but some sort of nice 'goodbye.' The problem? She couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound too novel or cheesy. It came back to her 'thinking too much' thing, if she could just talk without thinking life could be that much easier. Then again, Noelle could get herself in more trouble that way, so it was kind of a lose-lose for her right now.

"Well, thank you again." She pulled her hand out from her pocket to wrap carefully around the small post at the bottom of the stair railing. It was a habit she had whenever Noelle was standing in this spot. She often found herself holding onto the metal and pulling her weight against it a little, a way to keep her body moving as she spoke, maybe. "I guess I'll...see you at school." How high school of her, but there wasn't a better way of phrasing that unless she wanted to sound completely dorky and business-like. At least that wasn't just filler talk. They were going to see each other before class for the dance lessons he had asked her about, if he still wanted them.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Aaron Seymour
`Word Count: 658
`Lyrics By: Kelly Clarkson - Here Me
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
HA! MOOSE! I can't get over that xD[/blockquote][/size]

[aaron seymour]

The rest of the walk to Noelle's apartment was pretty quiet. There really wasn't much to discuss anymore, unless he wanted to get into the whole "what's your favorite color?" bit. No, he'd rather save that for a different time, maybe when he went in for his first dance lesson. He actually forgot about them, having asked accidentally on purpose. It was a way to get into Noelle's circle, but he seemed to be doing that just fine without the lessons, didn't he? All the same, they couldn't do more harm then good. He knew he wouldn't be a very difficult partner to work with, knowing many of the universal steps. Plus, he didn't have two left feet, which was a bonus in anyone's book. Well, maybe he would allow for a few clumsy moments, just to have something to laugh about. Laughter was always the best medicine.

After a while, Noelle inched ahead of him toward a set of concrete steps. When she stopped, he was able to stop too without walking by her before noticing. He raised his hand to rest on the tip of the first post to the railing, tilting his head up to look at the door. '1284' He couldn't pull his eyes eyes away from the numbers. The last time he had looked up at them it was to confirm the location of a target. The last time he was on this street, he went down the alley just across from where they stood, up the fire escape, and onto the roof of the adjoining building. His sniper's nest was up there, where he had been careless and forgot to police his brass. Apparently the authorities weren't getting anywhere fast, since no one came busting down his door quite yet.

Now came the awkward good-bye moment. Even a trained killer hated the discomfort of such moments. He just smiled at her against the rail and nodded. "Anytime." It was true, he really meant anytime as literally anytime, because there would probably be a next time. Maybe not as serious as tonight's event but he was sure he would be in the area right when she dropped some papers in the hall or wasn't paying attention and nearly got hit by an opening door. He felt his grin widen at the images but tried not to make it too noticeable that he was thinking about her. Cause, that would be a little strange...maybe not. At Noelle's departing words, he nodded. "Bright 'n' early." Unfortunately, even though classes didn't begin until almost nine teachers and faculty had to be in a lot earlier. Sometimes it's for meetings, but most of the time it was just to mingle and get things done that will end up being ignored or forgotten later in the day.

Not wanting to drag out the good-bye any more than necessary, Aaron made the first move of letting go of the railing and backing away from the step. "Have a good night." He again flashed a handsome smile and, after taking a few backward steps, pushing his hands into his pockets and began heading back they way they had come. Then he stopped and turned around. "Oh. Don' ferget abou' our lesson tomorra." With his hand still in his pocket, he pointed to her with his coat in a joking 'you'd better remember, or else' way. He then continued walking, tipping his head up to call back to her, "I'll be in yer room after classes end." He then lowered his head and smiled to himself, becoming engulfed in the shadows of the night.

[noelle ackerman]

i'm lost inside the crowd, it's getting loud
i need you to see i'm screaming for you
________________________________________________________

When Aaron too took hold of the railing opposite her, Noelle found herself stepping up onto the bottom step and grabbing her railing with her other hand so both were behind her back, then leaning comfortably against them while they fished for what to say. He responded to her second 'thank you' with an 'anytime' and a cute smile, which made the young woman shyly look to the cement at her feet with a soft simper. In the short time that she had known Aaron, Noelle had led herself to believe that it had been a long time since she had met a man as sweet as he was. They barely knew each other, yes, but even so he had yet to give her any reason to dislike him. Actually, there was the thing with the BJ, but that was a misunderstanding. Her students were still getting a kick out of it though. One of the guys in the group that had been listening actually came up to her yesterday and asked "Mrs. Ackerman? I have a question, do you like BJs?" With that smart-ass grin on his face, she knew that he wasn't talking about the wholesale store. After her students let up then it would be something that she could look back and laugh over.

His "bright n' early" comment rang in her head for a moment. That was the only thing that Noelle didn't like about the job. She wasn't much of a morning person but teachers and faculty members had to come in a lot earlier to prepare for the day - whatever that meant. Sometimes it meant sitting in a forty-five minute long meeting talking about how and where to wear your IDs, other times it just meant getting your mail and straightening up your desk. They didn't have any department or faculty meetings tomorrow, she didn't think, so Noelle would be able to wake up a little bit later knowing that she could still be on time. The real question was, would she be able to sleep? The night's events hadn't exactly left her tired, and she didn't want to be stuck laying in bed staring at her ceiling fan again.

Noelle watched Aaron as he let go of the railing and said 'Have a good night' with that alluring smile of his. She smiled sweetly in return, pulling one hand out from behind her back and raising it in a bit of a wave 'goodbye.' "You too." It was immediately replaced behind her back, her gloved fingers finding their way back around the cool metal. Her eyes remained on the man for a moment as he turned and began walking back the way they had come, to his own home she assumed. Figuring it was time to get herself upstairs, Noelle dropped her left arm and started walking up the steps, her right hand gently sliding up the rail to help her keep her balance in her heels. At hearing Aaron's thick accent again though, she stopped in her place and turned to him again. 'Oh. Don' ferget abou' our lesson tomorra.' A soft laugh escaped the girl's lips and she called back to him, "I won't." If anything she would be looking forward to it tomorrow as a relief from everything else that teachers had to deal with on a daily basis.

He called back to her one last time, saying that he would meet her in her room tomorrow after the day was over, then continued on his way. Noelle watched him a moment longer, the soft smile remaining on her lips until she turned away herself and continued up the steps. Maybe tomorrow would turn out better than today? That was what she had been telling herself every night for the past three or four nights in a row. Still though, she had to tell herself again. Who knows? Maybe the bad karma would finally take a break and tomorrow would be one of the best days she'd had in a while. Well, no matter what, Noelle was more than ready to get settled down in her apartment. As soon as she came into the lobby of the building she was taking her coat off and slinging it over her arm. By the time the elevator doors opened the few pins that were in her hair were out and it fell in waves around her shoulders. Yep, like Aaron had said, it had been a long day.

________________________________________________________

`Status: Finished!
`Tag: Aaron Seymour
`Word Count: 760
`Lyrics By: Kelly Clarkson - Here Me
`Notes:

[/font] pic by me
whooot! Another thread done (:[/blockquote][/size]