Hanging By a Moment

[Luxanna Viera]

She hated these kind of visits. She hated that she had to tag along. Although, she realized that wasn't entirely fair. She didn't hate this, she just hated being here.

During every meeting, she usually stood at the other side of the room or hid somewhere in the shadows. Her uncle wanted her to tag along and she didn't really have the heart to say no to the man who had taken her in when she was left nothing, and well...

Thankfully, her uncle didn't need her, which meant that more often than not, she could slip away from the meeting before it ended and before she had to have any unpleasant conversations she felt was better kept buried in the past. Maybe she was being cowardly. She probably was.

Slipping through the door, the brunette started down the hallway and lifted her hand to tuck a strand of her unruly, brown hair behind her ear. A few more steps and she'd be safe.

[Carter Chevalier]

These meetings happened. Carter had been dealing with them for years, now, and they always went the same way. He and his brother had a longstanding relationship with Luxanna's uncle, and it was just about always positive. Therefore, Carter saw no issue with leaving his brother be when the conversation turned to something more casual.

Because he had seen the way she left. Nothing but idle glances from across the room, because he was busy, and she was never really here on her own accord. There wasn't much to say to someone who seemed so forced to tag along, but for a while now Carter had been winding over the idea that something needed to be said. He'd known her for years, too. And what a set of years it was.

Through the door on the third floor and to the walkway where Carter saw her taking fast steps.

"Wait." He offered, lightly despite the way his tone was naturally stern.

[Luxanna Viera]

When she heard his voice, she slowed down her pace until it reached a halt. She didn't turn. Not right away. His voice carried the same tone it always did - the kind of voice that always made her take a double take.

It was silly, really. She had known him for years. This shouldn't have felt this tense, but it did. Whether she wanted it to or not.

Taking a deep breath, Luxanna turned around and tried keeping her expression as neutral and casual as she could. "Yes?"  She wondered, hoped her uncle had forgotten something. She would happily run back home to get it, but somehow, she doubted that was what this was all about.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter found himself staring at the back of her head as opposed to her eyes. Hands slid into the pockets of his slacks, comfort found by the routine motion of standing and waiting himself. Seconds filtered across the board, and they easily felt like minutes on their own. It wasn't as if it would have been difficult for her to straight leave regardless of his own voice.

Eyebrows rose when she finally did turn around, and Carter worked to catch her eyes instead of allowing his own to skim the length of his form. A simple enough answer for the simple request he had placed between them initially.

"You don't have to run off. Not every time." He reasoned, shrugging his shoulders lightly. Now it all became routine; how harsher qualities melted in his mouth to something neutrally sweeter; "Unless you always have somewhere else to be." Or someone else to be with, but he highly doubted the latter.

[Luxanna Viera]

She found it difficult to look him in the eye - then again, the brunette wasn't normally overly fond of eye contact. Somehow, this was much harder. Why, she didn't know. Or perhaps, she didn't want to know.

"I don't have a reason to stay," she replied. Although the statement was for all reasons and purposes, true, it was laced with the usual softness her voice carried. After all, she was here because her uncle wanted her to, and not because she had decided to come her by herself. "The business aspect of this is over, no?" she quickly added, for good measure.

She hesitated a little at the last part he'd offered; no, she didn't have anywhere else to be. Not really. Instead, the brunette simply shrugged. She didn't know what else to say.

[Carter Chevalier]

Eye contact was incredibly helpful when it came to determining what a person wanted from any given situation. Carter knew it must have been notoriously difficult for her, but he did his best to search her gaze all the same. Rarely did he ever step out of a meeting, finished or not, and so this was relatively new.

Though the reason she offered was potentially harsh, it carried the softer qualities she was known for. Against the hardened edges of his natural tone, it worked subsequent wonders to his persona. He moved into the moment further with a step forwards, nodding his head a few times because she was absolutely right. That part was over.

"I've got time if you do." Carter offered, tilting his head up a fraction, "How are you?"

[Luxanna Viera]

When he stepped forward, the brunette finally lifted her gaze to meet his. Uncertainty fleeted across her features and she felt her own breath catch in her throat. This was the very same reason as to why she bailed from every meeting she'd gotten dragged along to; she didn't know how to handle this situation. It made her feel awkward and uncertain.

How was one supposed to handle this? Was she supposed to act as if nothing had ever happened? That nothing about this was uncomfortable, because surely, she was the only one who felt that way. He looked his usual confident self and it only made her feel silly for overreacting.

She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. He wanted to talk. Did she? Rubbing the side of her upper arm, she shrugged again. "I'm okay." It wasn't a lie, but it felt... Too simple. As if she wasn't offering enough. She lowered her gaze once more. "And you?"

[Carter Chevalier]

Luxanna was notoriously unapproachable. Since Carter had grown up and into the proverbial business he now half-run, things had always been strained. Work was always a priority, else the empire could so easily fall apart. Priorities were difficult to arrange when things got so complex. It was easier to stay away.

But here he was, taking steps towards here when he should have been back in that room.

He tilted his head to the side in curiosity; few ever really meant it when they said they were okay, but the choice in word was better than an even simpler good. With the distance breached, he kept himself a few short paces away, just for comfort's sake. "Oh, you know, things rarely change around here." He replied, threatening a smile to the very nature of a simplistic life.

"A balance between work and the rest of a life is still difficult to achieve."

[Luxanna Viera]

She became acutely aware of how close he was coming, and maybe her previous thoughts had been right. Maybe she was overreacting. There was no point for this to be awkward. What had happened, had happened, and that was all there was to it, right? Sadly, she couldn't quite compel her mind to agree with her. She was awkward and uncomfortably by nature.

Those kind of things didn't change on a whim, even as much as she wanted them to.

"You know what they say; most people enjoy living the life they know best." She, sadly, knew that all too well. She was far too comfortable with her life. She rarely did much out of it. It was probably one of her worst traits.

Looking around them then, the brunette smiled. "Well, at least work is going well," she gestured to the hallway around them.

[Carter Chevalier]

It was hard to let go of things Carter didn't quite understand. He was the type to carry an answer for everything, and the idea that he might have been so lost when it came to one person was almost worrying. Few could ever get him to genuinely think about the course of his life; he wasn't prepared to start doing so right now, but ignoring the concept of enjoying the life he understood was far too muddled to leave alone.

He dropped his attention briefly to the way she smiled, because it was rare for him to ever catch it. Usually when he saw her she seemed distant enough; the negotiations the twins carried with her uncle rarely involved her direct attention, so there wasn't much to pay attention to.

"I imagine it always will." He replied, always sure of both his own skills and those of his brother's. He had high hopes and expectations for the world they had created. "But I'm always prone to wondering if there should be more to life than routine maintenance of a thriving empire."

Curiosity then coloured his words as he pressed forward; "Your thoughts?"

[Luxanna Viera]

She nodded at that; she had little doubt in the abilities of the twins. Even without all the meetings she already knew the two of them worked well together and that they were capable. They'd always had that kind of aura about them, she supposed.

She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the last part, and even more so, the fact that he'd asked for her opinion. But she figured she'd might as well answer truthfully. "A life solely based on ones work sounds awfully lonely and depressing if you ask me," she shrugged. "Even if doing so with ones brother."

[Carter Chevalier]

Curious enough eyes watched for the confusion Luxanna inevitably wore when he asked her opinion. True enough, in their latest encounters, her opinion was rarely considered. And as he found himself briefly dwelling on the thought, he realised he couldn't remember the last thing he'd said to her that wasn't pertaining to work.

There she was, admitting that a sustainable life needed the two to reach anything worthwhile. It was a fair thought, but it also felt like operating on two sides of the same coin when it came to their clashing opinions.

"Yet here you are, walking away without a word. So what am I to do?" Carter asked boldly.

[Luxanna Viera]

Her brows furrowed in confusion for a moment. She hadn't necessarily meant that, had she? She found her words catching in her throat and once again, she had nothing clever to respond with.

"That's not what I meant," she began, considering. "I meant in general." She didn't know why she felt that so important to point out. Maybe because she'd never expected anything more or less from him. She knew exactly what she'd gotten herself into, and she'd been fine with that. At least, she'd been telling herself that.

She'd never really let herself think about, let alone analyse it.

And yes, she'd knowingly avoided the question.

[Carter Chevalier]

Taking chances was so like the slightly older twin. Carter might have known he was shifting her words, but twisting them to his advantage wasn't out of character in the slightest. She should have expected it. He smirked at his own victory when she clearly didn't.

As his hands left his pockets, he raised them in the form of a surrender.

"Understand; in general is something I have to take and mould to suit my own life." He explained simply, "There is no general. There's only what we make of what's said." It might have sounded selfish and self-absorbed; when things were boiled down to the finer notes, that's exactly what it was. "Just like there's no polite courtesy here. I don't say hello in passing or ask how you are for the sake of hearing my own voice."

[Luxanna Viera]

She supposed that was fair. She couldn't really argue it, even if she'd wanted to. She was confused still, which was hardly anything new. He'd always had that effect on her, it seemed. She rarely knew what to make of it all.

"I know," she said, her lips pursing. "I suppose that if you did, you could just go fetch a recorder." She shook her head and sighed. "I don't know what you want me to say, Carter." She looked at him, her shoulders slumping somewhat. "What are you trying to get out of this?" It was a genuine question. It wasn't accusatory.

What did he want? Friendly conversation? Company for the time being? And why now?