Previously:
"Uh hi? Do I know you?"
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POV: Nerovsky
Instead of being offended, the unknown companion laughed in pure joy. It was kind of alarming. He merrily replied, "well now that I think about it, it would be slightly odd if you remembered who I am. I don't think I even gave you my name the first time we met. Or maybe I did but we were all too drunk."
Ok now this guy had definitely lost me and it showed on my face because he chuckled once more before wrapping his arms around my neck and slightly leaning into my space. Usually, I'd pry the arms off but I was high and curious about the mystery man. Plus, Leo had a weird expression, which seemed awfully close to jealousy but that could just be wishful thinking.
"Well, let me reintroduce myself to you. My name is Nick and I am the man who tried to hook up with you the other night at the club."
It took me for a loop but soon enough, memories from 3 months ago rushed in (more or less. I was drunk) and I finally recognised him. "Holy shit. It is you." I bring my hand to his waist and bring him in for a hug. How very uncharacteristic of me
"It is I. I'm surprised you remembered with that little information. I thought it would take a lot more. In fact, I just assumed you would've never remembered and I would've been accused of sexual harassment."
That brought out a chuckle and I gripped his hips as I relaxed back on the banister. "Well, it's hard to forget one of the only three people who tried to hook up with me. If anything, I should be surprised that Mr. Sleep-around remembered my face. Let alone my name."
"Bullshit only three people tried to get with you."
"*shrug* I made myself pretty unapproachable at clubs. Clearly you didn't get the hint."
"Clearly. Also, it's hard to forget someone who not only said no but pushed me onto their best friend. Why do you go clubbing if you have no intention of having any fun?"
"I go because said best friend pushes me to go and releases his wrath unless done otherwise. Regardless, I know you enjoyed that make out session much more than the rest of your endeavours."
"Well, I can't exactly deny that. It led to me getting laid and having the best sex ever after all. Your best friend is a beast"
"And for that, you're welcome. Now please stop talking about his sex life. Hear enough about it. Anyway, what are you doing here and are you going to keep your arms around me the entire time?"
"I work here. I'm on break now but I'm serving for the party downstairs. What about you? And my arms are where they are in hopes you changing your mind from three months ago and finally kiss me. By the way, you have your arms on my hips, I think you're more inclined than last time."
I quickly glanced to my left to see that Leah stopped paying attention and was attempting to try to get the attention of Leo, who was still studying our interaction. I brought my attention back to the man in front of me and grabbed his arms to bring it in front of my chest. "I'm a guest of said party. I work for the company. And the arms are definitely tempting me to say yes. That, and because I'm cooked."
Nick's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"No. You must know by now that I'm not the casual type, even while out of it."
Nick pouted and sulked. "Wow, you would lead me on like that. I'm hurt."
"Well," I pushed him gently to put some space between us. "My best friend is coming to pick me up. I could hook you guys up again if you want? Will that make it up?"
"Pfft, the sentiment is nice so yes, I forgive you but I'm going to decline your offer because I have someone I like and I'm going to stay loyal to my crush."
"Didn't you just try to get me to kiss you like thirty seconds ago?"
"You will always be my only exception."
"I have no idea what I've done to get this special treatment."
"lol neither do I."
"When does your break end?"
"Like in a minute."
"You should probably go then. The CEO of MegCorp is right there." I nudged my head towards Leo's direction which prompted Nick to follow the line of sight.
"Oh shit. I mean, enjoy your night sir. And I hope we run into each other again Nero. I'll definitely change your mind next time." Nick ran off and I prayed he heard my, "no you're not!" as he disappeared inside. Silence fell onto the balcony once again (this time there was no lip-smacking noises since the couple slipped away sometime earlier) and it was uncomfortable. Might be due to the fact that Leo was looking straight at me with an expression I've never seen before but I knew it wasn't good. Leah was also staring but at Leo. It was a mix of frustration and adoration. Weirdo.
"Sir, it's an emergency!" Thank god for the random man in a black suit.
Leo looked at me for longer before turning towards the security guard. "What?" his voice wasn't warm like before. It was the polar opposite. It's cold, so cold. It made the buffed man flinch.
"Um, there is a person out front who's causing trouble for one of the guest members. He keeps yelling and arguing with him. He's not a guest himself and we're finding it hard to escort him off the premise."
I looked at my watch and realised it was 11:15pm, fifteen minutes past when Aiden's meant to pick me up. Oh dear lord, please don't let it be who I think it is. Wait, Aiden would've called me if he arrived. I checked my phone to make sure of the fact and found it dead. Oh fuck.
Leo was about to say something but I quickly interrupted. "Say, does the guy have blue hair, eyebrow and nose piercing?"
"Huh? Yeah, how did you know?"
"Oh for fucks sake, Aiden! Look, I'll take care of it," I whipped my head towards Leo. "Mr. Covell, this has been a lovely party and I look forward to it next year - if I get a ticket that is - but it seems my ride is here. I apologise for the trouble said ride has caused but I will take the trouble out of your hand now. Bye!"
With that being said, I sprinted towards the exit. What on earth have you done this time, you lil shit.
♤♧♡♢
10 minutes ago...
POV: Aiden
I'm pissed. I'm mad. I'm sad. I'm dad. Yeah no, I'm not dad but I am sad. Really sad that my best friend refused to sneak me into his party. He knew I would've been his plus one if I didn't have that stupid important project that needed to completed in two days. I totally could've done it at the party! This was the one time that I regretted procrastination. I never thought I'd reach this point in life but I had and I was extremely sad.
I got out my phone as I locked the car and head towards the entrance of the hotel, intending to call Nero out but the damn call went to voicemail immediately. Meaning his phone was either on do not disturb, he's intentionally ending the calls or the phone was dead. Knowing the introverted fuck, it was most likely the latter anyway. Matthew wasn't picking up his phone either, so it kind of put me in a sticky situation because I had no other method of communication.
Maybe this is the chance I've been waiting for. The chance to see the grand party of the year. I eventually approached the lobby of the hotel, which consisted of a few loitering couples but overall, empty. Two security guards were standing in front of the door, checking tickets for when people entering and leaving for a bathroom break or something. If I'm lucky, I'll see the hall through the gaps of the doors when they open
Dusting myself off, I walked confidently towards the guards and began speaking with some polite courtesy "Hello there gentlemen. How has your night been?"
The only response I got was a mean death glare.
"Oookay, not up for the small talk I see. Straight to business then. I'm actually a ride for someone attending the party in there," I pointed towards the grand doors, "and their phone seems to be dead so I was wondering if I could go in to drag them out."
Again, mean death glare but this time, it was accompanied with some disbelief.
"Welp, I tried. Look, I don't have a ticket so I know I can't get in so could you do me a favour and get one of your many staffs to call him out for me? That way, I don't go in and I can get my best friend out, yes?"
The buff men looked at each other, looked back and gave me a deadpan, "no."
"What? Why not?"
"Not part of our job requirements."
"Well yes but also I need to really get my very introverted friend out of there and take him home and this seems to be the only solution. I know for a fact you guys are not understaffed so just ask someone who's free. It can't be that hard."
"... not part of our job requirements."
God must be really enjoying my ordeal because, at that moment, a security guard was coming out of the doors, escorting a woman towards the exit. As they pass by, I heard the man ask if she was ok taking the uber and if she needed any assistance. As soon as they're gone, I looked back at the fucktards with a scary glare of my own. "Did one of your men just escort a woman to her ride? I thought that wasn't part of your job requirements?"
"... she was heavily intoxicated," said the other guard.
"My friend is also intoxicated. Which is why I'm here. To pick up my friend. Because it's illegal to drive drunk. I am the ride. Why can't you just call him or escort him like you guys did with her? It's essentially the same thing."
The audacity! The assholes remained quiet and said nothing to that. So I took the reins of the conversation. Time to cause a scene. This is all for you my best friend. I crossed my arms over my chest and in an accusatory tone, I ask, "are you guys sexist?"
The question startled them and they looked at me with panic. The guard on the right quickly defended, "What? No. We're not sexist."
"Then why won't you escort my male friend here?"
"W-Well that's because it's not part–"
"Really? Someone legitimately helped a FEMALE attendee out of the premise. This just confirms it, you guys are discriminatory against the male gender. You guys are simps."
"We are not–"
"Honestly! I am shocked by the staff around here, getting sexist bigots to take care of the people here. I am utterly disappointed. All I wanted to do is to pick up my poor, intoxicated best friend and–"
"We're not sexi–"
"Why are you causing a scene in front of the semi-general public?" I whipped my head behind me, towards the direction of the new, deep and very sexy voice. The man looked... familiar but I couldn't point out from where. He's hot as hell though. I'm surprised I forgot where I've seen him. He's quite literally unforgettable.
He had his orange/reddish hair tied up in a neat bun, strands of hair framing his face. Speaking of framing, the suit (which looks like it's Louis Vuitton) fit the man in all the right places and I couldn't help but ogle at it. Hopefully, it was subtle. The jewellery on his ears and his fingers tied up the entire look to make him look like somewhat of a modern-day prince. A cold prince. He looked like a bit of a dick.
Definitely my type.
It bothered me why he looks somewhat familiar. It's SO hard to forget a face like that. That face should also be gathering a flock of ladies around him but he's surprisingly welcomed with empty space.
Regardless, I managed to snap out of it and I instinctively sniped back. "I'm not causing a scene." I'm totally causing a scene.
Mystery man gave me an are-you-serious look. "You're literally accusing a staff member – who's doing their job – sexist because they wouldn't call out you friend."
All of a sudden, he didn't look so hot no mo. He's looking more like a dick by the minute. "When you put it like that, it looks bad. You're making me out be a Karen and that is highly offensive. This isn't even any of your business!"
"It's my business when you're interrupting the only breathing time I have for the night."
"That sounds like a fucking you problem. Anyway, I already explained to them why I need to them to get the damn guy and they still wouldn't do it. It's a completely legit reason."
"So it's not an excuse to sneak into the party?"
"You can go shove your stupid party up your ass! I don't care about your pretentious get together (well not anymore). I just want to go home and sleep off the migraine I gained from this stupid conversation."
"Then leave."
"Yeah, I will. Just get me what I came here for."
"You want ME to get your friend now?"
"Yeah, since your nose is somewhere it doesn't belong and now that you've made it your business unnecessarily."
"You have no authority to order me around."
"You're not my boss nor do I know who the fuck you are. So technically, you're on the same playing field as I am and on this field, authority means jack shit. Just because you're hot, doesn't mean I'm going to grovel at your knees." The last statement was completely unnecessary, you horny bastard (bastard being me).
"Listen here you brat. I just wanted some peace and quiet and I finally got it for a short amount of time. Except you come storming shouting utter bullshit like some Karen to get what you want and disturbing everyone around you."
All I saw was red. "If you wanted your stupid Zen, then you'd go somewhere that contains no people but clearly, your dysfunctional brain couldn't figure that out so you go to the one place where people are entering and exiting constantly. And who the fuck are you calling Karen, Leo's staff know my reasons and they know it's fucking legit!"
The douchebag squinted at me after I finished my retaliation. "Just who are you calling Leo?"
I stepped closer to him and gave him a smirk that made a scoundrel look nice. "Leonardo Covell."
"You have no right to say his name like that."
"What are you, his girlfriend? I know him personally you know and he told me to do so."
He stepped closer in an attempt to intimidate me with his huge height and hissed out, "Bull. Fucking. Shit."
My smirked grew wider. "Why? Jealous? Leo would never friend an asshole like you anyway so don't keep your hopes up."
The taller man began glowing slightly, a white hue outlining his body. His eyes turned from slightly annoyed to proper angry. It was kind of terrifying. He growled out in a deeper tone (it'd be hot if it wasn't for the fact that it's coated with murderous intent), "Know your fucking place."
That triggered something within me and I snapped, fully ready to K.O the fucker. "Oh, I'll show you where you belong and put you in place." I raised my fist with the complete intention to smash it against his jaw but a voice came out from the direction of the ballroom door and boy oh boy, did it chill my blood immediately. It deadass paralysed me. "You WILL put down that fist of yours before I slice it off with a butter knife."
I gulped the now dried up saliva and turned my head towards Nero. He looked pissed. BEYOND pissed. He looked like he was about to snap me in half and feed me to the hounds. So I put my fist down, straightened up, gave him a wobbly smile and squeaked out, "I'm here?"
Nero said nothing, just glared at me and I squirmed uncomfortably. Nero walked in a intimidating manner and I assumed he was about to punch me instead but he surprisingly walked past and waited at the exit of the lobby. Awh shit, man. I'm a dead man. Why didn't I just sneak in on my own, man? With a sigh, I turned back to Mr. Asshole – who had a confused expression – and in a fake, cheery voice, I bid farewell. "Well, nice to meet you Mr. Mystery Man. I'm going to take my leave now. Bye." I sped walked but the other man said something that shocked me into stillness.
"Wait, YOU'RE Aiden?"
I whipped my head around and pointed at him. "How do you know my name?!" I asked with an accusatory tone. But Nero answered the question for him. "He's Leo's best friend."
I still couldn't remember his name but suddenly, it all clicked and I accidentally blurted at the dude, "Oi, we've briefly met slash seen each other before. At the Oddity meeting."
The giant's right eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. "Why would you think I would remember someone as plain as you?"
"SINCE WHEN WAS BLUE HAIR PLAIN? HOW MANY SMURF HAIRED FUCKERS DO YOU KNOW?"
Apparently my comment was extremely funny to him because he physically struggled to hold back a bark of laughter. "I guess even your blue hair isn't special enough for me to remember your face."
As if I'm going to let him have the last say. "W-Well, I don't even know your name or who you are in general, so I win." As soon as I stuck my tongue out, Nero smacked me from behind the head and it fucking hurt. I didn't even manage to peek at the look on the douche's face. The outrage I tell you!
"Stop being a brat. TO THE SECURITY STAFF, I APOLOGISE ON BEHALF OF THIS CU- man, on the behalf of this man." I felt a pinching sensation on my left ear and I was being dragged back out the exit, in a rough manner.
"Fucking ouch! Ow! It hurts! I'm sorry! OWWWW! Let go! You're not going to let go until we reach the car are you...? ... I still win."
*SMACK*
A/N: And that is how Aiden and Erwin meet for the first time. properly that is. I understand there is a lot of plot holes and shit but eh. I'm doing this on the fly here. I warned y'all before :)
Also, this wasn't mentioned because at the time I forgot to add it but Nero cashed in one of his favours and refused to dance with Leo for the sake of his sanity and combusting on the dance floor. He told Matthew to pass on the message to Leo. Matthew had no idea about the favours and was extremely confused and kept asking questions but Nero refused to answer.