28 Bleach Vats Later

[subconmodo]

WHO: Avery Atchison (subconmodo), Imelda Rivera (no_dejare_de_quererte), Héctor (unpocoloco), Peter Parker (made_up_names), Souji Seta (punches_fog), Shuuji Miwa (willnotbeyourneighbour), Ellie Williams (elliexir), Fakir Ansel (schwanenritter), Bumblebee (thebreakfastbug), Orihime Inoue (leekspins)
WHERE: North Dakota
WHEN: January 18th, 2019
WHAT: Obtaining funding for the Academy at the cost of one's dignity. Unless you're in the cleanup group.
WARNINGS: None atm. Will update as they pop up.
Note: Full mission details/plotting can be found Here

To Avery's credit, he had tried to prepare his students for this. The zombies had been the easy part. The corpses were slow and weak and as long as none of them did anything stupid they wouldn't be in danger. Wouldn't help the smell or the grossout factor, but such was life, death, and undeath.

Their clients were another matter entirely.

"It's not death that's going to be our enemy here," Avery had said during the briefing. "It's customer service." And if he wasn't allowed to rip into this bunch of stuck up jerks (literally as well as figuratively), neither was anyone else. He'd let minor acts of passive aggression slide, but that was it. And maybe, just maybe if they were lucky enough, Avery might be able to convince the bigwigs to let one or two of them fire off something or another.

---

The cleanup crew is much luckier. The smell may be worse (rot and burning flesh and whatever scents habe wafted up in the wake of Coldsteel's blow-shit-up-themed office party. Avery looks to be just Abbott on his last legs as he suits up alongside everyone and hands out holy water and runecasters, all the while grumbling about how he needs a pay raise.

Comments

[made_up_names]

[ He is, in fact, cleaning like a good spider child. Not that he won't get out there and do more stupid stuff at some point, but for this one? He'll do what she says. He may be a dumbass, but he recognizes when someone is pulling his ass out of the fire. That ... probably could have gone a lot better.

Anyway. He stops scrubbing the plate he's on and sets it aside for a moment. And - blinks at her? He'd been bracing for another lecture. A lack of one is baffling. ]

What? Me? No way. I'm super strong.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[One singular point goes to Peter for actually listening for once.]

Hmm. Good to know. Though I'd take smart over strong right now. [That's a very pointed look being shot his way.]

What exactly prompted you to dump an entire plate of shrimp?

[made_up_names]

[ Awesome! Now he's at negative 499 instead of 500.

He just. Looks a little stubborn at that, setting down the plate in his hands. ]

They were making fun of Héctor. Like - his everything.

[ And he knows she doesn't like him, and he knows Héctor looks scruffy, but. Dude. ]

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[See that look, Peter? That's the deadpan look of someone who has probably said worse about Hector.]

...And? That man can handle his own problems. Don't get yourself into trouble for his sake.

[made_up_names]

[ LOOK. Look. Imelda is different. Also probably she is not insulting a dead guy for looking homeless maybe? Don't burst his bubble. ]

Well maybe I was offended too! Like, dude. I'm not saying all rich people are dicks or whatever, but these are definitely the types that think being poor is a character flaw.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[She frowns at him for what is probably an extended amount of time before letting out a sigh.]

If you want to be mad for your own sake, that's one thing. But don't stick your neck out for that idiot. It's not worth it.

[And with that, she's going to take that plate of dirtied shrimp... to the counter. Where she fetches a new plate, and starts transferring the shrimp onto it neatly.]

[made_up_names]

[ He opens his mouth to protest - but he likes Héctor, por que no los dos, etc.

And then. He stops. Watching her. ]

Dude. They're probably going to get sick.

[ He's delighted?? ]

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[She adds some garnish to the dish, a couple crisp looking pieces of lettuce. A slice of lemon. There's still flecks of dirt and debris on the shrimp, but she picks off the most obvious ones and masks the rest with a liberal dash of pepper.]

I don't see how that's my problem. We'll be back in France by then. [She gestures down the counter a bit.] Hand me some of those spices. I don't want them tasting anything.

[made_up_names]

[ Oh my god. That's. He legitimately thought he would never like Imelda? Tolerate for Héctor's sake, and also try not to be a horrible dick to because of music. But this. He would probably die for her now, just saying. ]

Uh - yeah. Here. How about red pepper flakes?

[ He'll pass her whatever she wants, still vaguely awed. ]

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

Perfect. [She takes the container that he hands her a applies a healthy does of those pepper flakes. Maybe some Old Bay, too? And some garlic. That should probably mask the taste of dirt handily.]

It's a shame, really. Our client not feeling so well after this mission. I imagine it's something to do with all the zombie debris floating through the air. I'll have to raise this concern against the school--see if they can get us better protective gear for the future. It's a miracle none of the students got sick, too.

[made_up_names]

[ This is the best. How did he not realize she was awesome before now?

Oh wait, the Footloose thing. But still, she’s getting mad respect right now. ]

Dude, right? I think I’m feeling kind of sick already. Could be bad.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[She gives a small snort of laughter, her mouth quirking up into a smirk.] Don't get carried away with that. I don't need you actually getting sick.

But if you're going to get revenge on those imbéciles, you have to be quiet about it. Give them something they can't point back to you--not just dump food on them.

[made_up_names]

But dumping shrimp on people is really satisfying.

[ He gets what she’s saying, 100%. But. ]

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[She gives him a Look before pointing out the obvious.]

Less satisfying when you have to apologize for it later.

[made_up_names]

Yeah, well - I'm apologizing to you, not him.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

Are you? [She lifts a brow at him. Her surprise is mostly feigned.]

That'll be a first.

[made_up_names]

[ Okay, well-played. He sighs a little, hanging his head. ]

Yeah. I definitely owe you, like, five at this point.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[She gives him a bit of a skeptical look, but ultimately turns back to the shrimp tray that she's perfecting.]

Well, I can't say that I've been keeping track, but I won't say no to fives apologies.

[made_up_names]

[ He's silent for a moment. Kind of futzing around in the prep area, not doing much of anything. ]

So ... I didn't realize what was going to happen with Maya. At all. I'm sorry it went that badly.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

I'm not sure what else you did expect. But... Apology accepted. [It's easier to brush off now, after the fact. Even easier when she doesn't want to think too hard on it in the first place.

After a few more seconds, she adds:]

I'm not trying to hurt anyone. You know that, don't you?

[made_up_names]

[ He's just glad he's not hurting her worse by trying to apologize. ]

Yeah. I know that now. Héctor told me a lot, and ...

[ Deep breaths. ]

I know he hurt you. Badly.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

[Her expression curls a little when Peter brings up that name. She really... doesn't want to think about the hurt he's caused. Not right now.]

You shouldn't talk to that man. He runs his mouth off, but you can't trust a word that he says.

[made_up_names]

[ Look. He gets it. He'll try to keep it to a minimum, because this an apology and not an argument. But. ]

Yeah, he said you probably don't trust him. For good reason probably. But I really don't think he meant it.

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

Peter. Don't add another apology to that list.

He didn't trip and land on a plane. He didn't catch a wrong turn and end up in Europe. He went there himself, and he left his family behind. He made his bed. Just because he's tired of lying in it doesn't mean he gets to come home.

[made_up_names]

[ He bows his head a little, shoulders scrunched up. ]

But - look, I know. He left, and that was his choice. But I don't think he meant to stay away that long.

[ This is a guess at this point, since he doesn't know all the details yet. But he knows something, and that seems to hang together. Héctor is a skeleton or a zombie or something weird, and he's willing to bet that's involved. ]