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Aaron didn’t linger long in the parlour, serving Eris’ contribution with practiced ease and taking his leave cleanly unnoticed. He was almost a little bit tempted to loiter a moment and see the guests’ reactions to Max’s blood—Aaron recalled Eris claiming once that it tasted like battery acid, and it was hard to imagine anything could get Max in a good mood long enough to siphon off an entire bottle—but given he had the dismembered remains of an alarm clock hidden under the kitchen counter, witnessing a social train wreck was pretty low on his priority list. 

Instead, he made a beeline for the kitchen, crouching down in front of the cabinet to assess the damage. Ugh, there was no way he’d ever get the clock into anything even resembling one piece; he’d just have to mail it as it was. He’d told Lilie that Malek wouldn’t be angry, but he really had no idea how the man would react. Would he be angry? The task he’d assigned [i]had[/i] been done, and Sinnenodels weren’t known to be picky about methods as long as they got results. Would he find it funny? Aaron couldn’t even picture Malek [i]smiling[/i], let alone [i]laughing[/i]. Hopefully he wouldn’t say anything at all. 

He stood, rubbing his temple as a sudden wave of fatigue passed over him. Whatever, that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now he had to focus on lasting through the night; Max’s blood marked the halfway point in the tasting and he was already starting to lose his concentration. Goodness, only three months away from home and he was [i]this[/i] out of practice? It had only barely been over an hour! Of course, it might have had something to do with the fact that Varis’ expectations were tighter than any he’d ever worked under before, but that was no excuse!

Ugh, and then there was [i]that[/i]. Aaron leaned back against the counter, closing his eyes for a moment. Right, the reason he had to take care of that clock business tomorrow and not tonight after the party was because of his jackassery with Eris. [color=f0d705][i]I’m honoured by your attention, Mr. Samael,[/i][/color] he mocked in his head, [color=f0d705][i]I’d be more than happy to arrange some time for you once the night’s events have concluded.[/i][/color] Was he [i]literally[/i] born yesterday?! Sun and stars, his stomach turned just [i]thinking[/i] about what was in store for him with Eris tonight. He’d seen more of Eris than he ever, [i]ever[/i] wanted to just from the few ill-fated glimpses he got of the man when he stayed the day with Varis, and then there he was inviting that very debauchery onto himself?!

Aaron could have slapped himself if he didn’t think it would be heard from the living room. What was he [i]thinking?[/i] He only said that garbage because he’d heard other mages say it in the past and he couldn’t think of anything better, not because he was [i]at all[/i] prepared to actually go through with it! Yeah, okay, as Sinnenodel standards went it was probably the best course of action he could have taken—given what Malek told him about show mages, there’d be a lot of similar schmoozing in his future—but come [i]on[/i], that was really the best he could think of? He probably could have stopped at “I must prioritize my duties” but [i]no[/i], like always, his dumb ass just had to go the extra mile.

Containing a huff, Aaron turned around and busied himself with getting Salem’s blood ready; if he didn’t occupy himself, he’d spend the rest of the night running circles around himself like that. He had to get it together. The night wasn’t over yet, he’d… think of something, surely. Whatever he’d gotten himself into after the party would just have to wait. He had a job to do. 

As soon as his fingers stopped shaking, anyway.  
[right][sub]just quietly freakin out in the kitchen no big deal[/sub][/right]