Alloy

Love and Politics [The Politician]

[Payton x River, Alice x Astrid]
For Alice,

From a terribly young age Payton regarded himself as peculiar. He never quite seemed to fit in with a group of people entirely; even within the hold of his own family he felt the black sheep. Though his mother tried desperately to make him feel an integrated part of the wondeful family dynamic she saw in perfect colour in her head, life just doesn't turn out that way. He hopes that with his upcoming campaign he need not think of trivial matters of fitting in. He needed to win, that was all he could think of. Well, that and the overwhelming fact that he was fraternising with the enemy. Both of them.

James crashed a binder onto the desk before him and sighed agressively. Payton was acting ridiculous for not wanting to go in all teeth bared and claws drawn. James had recently proposed that Payton go for a more aggressive approach in his next speech, directly antagonising the cold Astrid and evergreen River. Calling the couple out on some miniscule details from a bygone era simply to create some buzz. Payton denied the notion the moment it slipped from James' lips; encasing the idea in a block of cement and dropping it in a vast body of water level of denial. James decided not to outwardly pry, Payton was in one of his irritable moods and James knew better than to poke a pissed off bear without his limbs being strewn across the patterned library carpet.

While Payton did agree that it was more likely for him to win should he begin to fight dirty, he couldn't justify it. Did he want his position as President to be forged through flame or through venom? Payton had decided long ago that flame, while the harder path to traverse, it was the most honourable. Well, that and the looming fact that was circling around his head like a pinball machine. He was destined to hit the jackpot eventually. Surely.

James examined his friend, while usually so present and calculating to put it plainly the man before him was a mess. His eyes unfocused stared blankly at the oak shelf adjacent, his red-raw fingers glued to his mouth as he bit at them like a small rodent. He shared a nervous glance with McAfee, glided towards her and took a seat on the plush sofa next to her. Payton was unbothered by this movement, swapping hands to further destroy his cuticles. Inside Payton's mind was a state not commonly crossed into, he was contemplative.

The night prior he had driven to his opponent's house hastily, angrily. He was rage. It couldn't be contained within him and exploded. Payton broke through the heavy front door with a familiarity that suggested it was a regular occurence for the pair. River didn't call out for him until the bespectacled man barked out his namesake. His voice was thick and his deep eyes flickered between the doorway and the shorter man filled with wrath that had just barged through it. Payton was not proud of what he said next, he was an explosive personality. He was so full with gun powder the wind could set him off if it hit him just right. River just sat there, watching him waiting for the chance to diffuse the ticking time bomb that was Payton Hobart scorned. He could still hear the edge to his voice, a blade so sharp it scraped his own cheek as he sheathed it.

"This wasn't even your idea was it?" Payton recalled, he paced around the large table tearing into his nailbeds more just for good measure. River's face fell as he adjusted his robe, concealing his gun in the pocket. Jealousy was one hell of a drug and his love was an addict. River attempted at defending his reasoning, his girlfriends reasoning all while watching the man opposite him spiral past the point of return. Both parties were distressed, River was becoming increasingly concerned for the veins in the man's neck while Payton continued to spit venom about himself. It was a bizarre conversation in all. Payton tore himself down while building the other up despite his rambling at his expense. Payton was becoming hysterical, threatening to bring them both crashing down. Outing them both in one vicious moment. All is fair in love and politics after all.