Defrost

[subconmodo]

Who: Avery, open
What: I think he's handling the mission well.
Where:  Campus, post Vanessa mission
Warning: will update as needed


A. Venting Frustrations -- Mythril Cage

Thunk. Thunk. ...Thunk.

The sound continues on and on, not quite rhythmic, but persistent. Off to the side, face cloaked in unsmiling shadow, Avery sits perched atop a knocked over training dummy, plunging a dagger into its cutest over and over again.

Judging by the the growing pile of punctured puppets slumped against the wall--hurled there with more force than was strictly necessary--this victim isn't the first.

He doesn't appear to care whether or not there are classes getting ready to start around him.


B. New hobbies -- library

How in the world has he gone so long without knowing about needle felting?

Sure, most of the projects he'd googled were almost disgustingly cutesy, but if that meant he had the chance to stab something repeatedly until it made something useful out of itself, then he'd make however many small fruits and birds he could.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as he had hoped. He didn't think cherries would be so difficult a task, but here he is, surrounded by red, tangled messes that aren't quite up to snuff.


C. Office Hours

Ever since he's come back, Avery's been acting a little... different. Sure he grins and jokes and drops as many bad puns as ever, but there's a certain... bite to them now. Something meaner and more cruel.

The contracts he shows off in class are almost unfairly tricky in their wording, and he seems to delight in pointing out every single little thing that gets missed.

Maybe you want to see what his deal is. Maybe you're just here to call him an ass. Either way, the door is open.


D. Wildcard

HMU

Comments

Wildcard (Kit times)

[hattersgonnahat]

[Something had happened. For sure.]

[Nobody acts like that without something happening.]

[Of course after being all alone for years, he doesn't really know exactly what to say.]

[So instead he just peeks in every so often to check if things got any better.]

[...]

[Probably should be working instead.]

[subconmodo]

[It hasn't gone unnoticed, not in the slightest.

Once or twice he can ignore, but this? This was getting excessive.]

You aren't slacking over there, are you?

You do know that I'm perfectly capable of ripping that soul right back out of your body, right?

[hattersgonnahat]

[Uhhh....]

[Slacking over here? No way!]

[The kid doesn't say a word but there was a clatter of things as he hurries to uh...catch up. So that there was less to do later. Yes. That's right.]

[subconmodo]

[And that's an even better sign. Wonderful.

He hauls himself up to look into the other room, arms crossed.]

You could at least try not to break anything. Get your head in the game, kid!

[hattersgonnahat]

I didn't break anything!

[But he did make a mess...Kind of hoping Avery wouldn't have heard it so that he could just clean it up later.]

[Prooobably should do that now, or maybe he actually will take his body away.]

A

[arcadianvampire]

After the mission, Valvatorez gave his friend some space. Avery definitely didn't handle everything involving that mission terribly well. Not that Val could blame him. It was facing the very worst of his personal demons head-on, and while the vampire thought that was generally going to be a net positive in the long run, it didn't mean things would go smoothly at first.

He made his way through the Mythril Cage, eventually hearing all the noise and stumbling upon the pile of "corpses" his colleague was quickly generating. For most, that would be an absolute red flag behavior. Even for Avery, it... kind of was. But it was clear from one look at the pile and the way he was so consistently going to work on the dummy... that catharsis for his troubles simply wasn't coming.

"...I hope you've at least been switching hands sometimes so you don't strain something."

It was a little dry, but hidden in it was a bit of concern.

[subconmodo]

He pauses at the apex of the stabbing motion, then lowers his arms to his sides, giving the dagger a half hearted toss to the ground.

In an instant, he puts on a shit eating grin. "Every so often, yes. Sometimes I even change it up and use BOTH hands!"

He hops to his feet and dusts himself off. "So what brings you in here? Looking to kick me out and take over the arena for classes?"

[arcadianvampire]

The smartass comment does earn something of a smirk from the vampire, one of genuine amusement. That's more like it, even if it's still something of a defense mechanism. Dark humor, at least, was progress.

"No, not actually. The practicals for my classes aren't until tomorrow afternoon, though I did book the arena when I came in. For personal training, more than anything."

He did often need some really sturdy facilities for his own training, but...

"But I had another idea, if you might be interested in hearing it."

[subconmodo]

Avery cocks an eyebrow, head tilting to the side. "That so? Lay it on me."

c;

[inflictwounds]

He should probably know better than to approach Avery at his office, but, well. He's concerned. The man might be trying to act like everything is fine and dandy, but anyone with half a brain could see that something was off.

So...it's time to do what Hieke's worst at, and offer him some support in these trying times. He pushes the door open and steps in, giving the older man a quick hello.

Well.

At least he brought brownies?

Re: c;

[subconmodo]

The scent of chocolate in the air is faint, but it catches his attention all the same, and the offering is more than enough to take the edge off of whatever irritation he might have felt towards Hieke's intrusion.

"Decided to take up bribery, have we?"

[inflictwounds]

Hieke sets the plate down on Avery's desk, before shrugging.

"I thought it might make you more agreeable. Is it working?"

Instead of, you know, the raging asshole you've been for the past little while.

[subconmodo]

He snatches up one of the brownies, takes a large bite, and lets the silence hang as he takes a moment to judge. "Agreeable enough," he decides. "These aren't half bad."

C.

[nor_iron_bars]

[There's a couple of brief, quiet "thud" noises, a grunt, and then Jail kicks open the door and walks in, grinning.]

Hey, guess what I just invented!

[Apparently, the reason why she didn't just turn the knob like a normal person is because she's holding something behind her back with both hands.]

[At least she's distracting...?]

[subconmodo]

[He jumps about a foot in the air, nearly knocking his chair down behind him. It takes no small amount of effort to keep his voice level, and even then it doesn't stop there from being a certain bite to his words.]

What.

[nor_iron_bars]

That's not a guess~

[But she'll take pity on him, sort of. Or just use the opportunity to be more of a shit, it's unclear.]

I'll give you a hint: have you ever been trying to TP a place and thought "man, you know what would make this way easier? A grenade launcher."

[...There is no possible good answer to this.]

[subconmodo]

[As he eyes the device and Jail gives out her promising little hint, the look of irritation plastered on his face slowly begins to give way to curiosity.]

You made a TP launcher.

[Though it's said dryly, there's a certain twinkle in his eye.]

A - I'm... sorry................

[aibolition]

"Geez, leave some for the rest of us, will ya."

He looks terribly amused. Either this guy is in deep distress or he's doing some kind of wierd threat display. Totally the best time to laugh to himself either way.

He glances at the pile of fake corpses. "Doesn't look like it's helping much anyway. Maybe you're not stabbing hard enough."

[subconmodo]

"I'm trying to keep a delicate touch," Avery replies dryly, and pushes himself to his feet. The dummy is sent tumbling towards its brethren with a sharp, hard kick to its side.

[aibolition]

"Lame," He says, snickering. "What's the point of trying to stab things if you're being delicate about it? If I wanted something to hurt, I'd put actual force in."

He pauses, head tilting.

"Not that you're actually hurting anything. No one here want to fight you or something?"

[subconmodo]

"It's called 'lack of tenure,'" he explains as he brushes dirt off. "And that means I end up facing some unfortunate consequences if I get a bit too... eager in the middle of a spar."

Bonus Round! A faculty member is rampaging now too?! [Pre Grimm Tidings]

[subconmodo]

Over the last few days, Avery had... Well, he certainly hadn't gotten any better, but his angry, snippy demeanor had at least stopped getting any worse.

Or so it seemed, anyway.

Now, out in the parking lot, he seems to have sunk lower, absent mindedly twirling a knife in one hand and dragging a tire iron behind him as he patrols the parking lot, searching for cars to fuck up.

[unpocoloco]

Giving space had seemed like the best bet. The man had lost his wife and his friend in the same night. No matter how he claimed to feel about either one of them (supremely negatively) that was no way to make that cut cleanly. A little time to process, he decides, and then he'll try and round his amigo up in some kind of distraction or something.

But checking in on him, that seemed safe enough. Only he wasn't in his office. He wasn't in class. He checks his room, the lounge, even the cages which he usually avoids. Nothing. There's a sinking feeling of dread as he starts to wonder if maybe Avery went back to the woods. He wouldn't, he promised, but the fear remains and he knows one way to check. Avery's new car, to replace the one they'd crashed as kids, would be in the garage somewhere.

He doesn't find the car, but he finds better. So he thinks.

"Avery!" He blurts. "There you are! I was looking for you all over and--" He catches sight of the tire iron, then the knife. "...What are you doing?"

[subconmodo]

Avery turns to face, Héctor, sporting a manic grin that threatens to split his face clean in half. "Having a little fun!" he eagerly replies, and swiftly brings the knife down into the nearest tire.

"Can't kill, can't steal souls, can't make Contracts... It's BORING, Héctor!" He starts off eager, but then his voice lowers into something darker, more threatening. "So I thought I might as well show off just what I think."

He pauses, as if an idea comes to him, and he snaps back to his former, almost frenetic pace. "Heck, maybe I'll even give them a visit when I'm done! Take my concerns ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

[unpocoloco]

The grin is all he needs. He draws a sharp breath, instinct telling him something is wrong even before it's painfully obvious. He winces as the knife stabs into that tire, and then again as Avery's voice seems to boom. The laughter feels like being battered.

"A-Avery, we don't need to do that. Come on, you like teaching, and there's tons of other stuff we can do that don't involve the guys up top. We don't need that kind of attention on you."

He's not sure what's happening. Is this all because of that night? Is this some kind of... he doesn't want to think like that.

"I know you're not feeling okay but you're kind of freaking me out, Avery."