“Hey, remember, I’m an artist; my skin is plenty thick.” The process of submitting something he created for scrutiny, judgement and criticism had never been an easy task, but Aaron had always taken the feedback in stride, whether it was positive or negative. It was part and parcel of the gig – very different to how things had been throughout his high school athletics. Praise was not in high supply, and it was something you just had to be okay with, regardless of your effort, your passion, or your hopes. “Your tough love approach is just keeping me realistic.”
He chuckled while digging his fork through the cheesy pasta. “Lucky you, in that case. We make quite the pair.” Which wasn’t an exaggeration; even if Clem had mostly resisted the idea, they worked well together and were very successful.
Incarceration aside, anyway.
He shot her a side-eye, his expression twisting into are you sure when she claimed to be top-notch company among Regiment’s ranks. While he didn’t necessarily disagree, Clem was selling her cohorts a little short; but given her bristly tendencies and demeanour, that wasn’t exactly a massive surprise. Clem clearly didn’t let people beyond her barriers with any ease – a startling contrast to how open and willing Aaron was to let people into his life.
“Maybe,” he nodded. “But there are some good people around here. You just gotta give them a chance.”