daybreakacademy

Entry tags:

Defrost

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

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[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.]

[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?

[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.]

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.

[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!

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?"

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."

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

His eyes glance over to the pile of punctured training dummies again, then back to his colleague.

"To be blunt, it seems like those poor fellows have been less than... efficient, at helping you blow off some steam." He gives his friend a nod, and his eyes brighten a bit. "Frankly, I think this is a waste of your time. You need to, as the kids say, 'go big or go home.' So, with that in mind, what do you say for a chance to really cut loose and indulge in a good throwdown with me in the arena? Purely a sporting match, of course."

He does one of his more dramatic cape flings.

"And then, provided we are not in the infirmary getting lectured afterward, we can go hit a bar and indulge in some fine spirits. On me. What do you say?"

It's not what he was expecting. Not in the slightest. Told to see someone who didn't need to know his business, maybe. Forced out for someone to teach or train, certainly. Maybe even pay to replace the dummies.

This is way, way better than that. And it earns quite the laugh. His face is swallowed up in a darkness punctuated by a malicious, glowing grin.

"Toe to toe, eh? Why not! I'll even do you a favor and go all out for once!"

If anything, seeing that glowing grin simply fired up his daemonic blood and made it happily boil in his veins. Nothing quite like this sensation, and that Avery was so willing and ready to rumble just made it all the more exciting.

"Excellent! That's precisely what I wanted to hear! Bring everything you have to bear!"

Being told to see a professional for his issues was the realm of someone more human than he was. This was more of how daemons confronted their issues and frankly, Avery seemed to respond more to that than to any normal human treatment. And even if it wasn't a permanent solution, it might be a start.

Quite eager to get started, Valvatorez motioned for Avery to follow him into the Arena.

"Any terms you're partial toward?"

"No weapons," he replies instantly, shifting into his larger, shadowy form as he follows after. "Not the traditional sort, anyway. Better if neither of us ends up gutted, don't you agree?"

"It would make it considerably harder to enjoy drinks later with no liver, you're right. And also I wouldn't want to hear it from Heike if one of us came in there dragging our intestines behind us, or something."

Valvatorez waved his hand, clearly not relishing the idea of getting a stern talking to. Even with Ekkehardt still recovering, he knew both of them would hear about it from him whenever he fully regenerated.

"The most martial weapon I plan on using is one of these," he said, walking by a rack of... well, padded training swords. He took one off the rack; it frankly looked more like a Nerf weapon than an actual fighting implement. "Besides, I haven't really taken my magic out for as much of a spin lately. I probably should, given that new student of mine."

He clasps his hands together. "Perfect! Makes this way easier on the both of us. I'll even offer the same courtesy to you: state your rules now or forever hold your peace."

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.]

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?

I'll be the judge of that.

[but no, nothing seems to be broken. Looks like Kit's telling the truth.

Good for him.]

Okay, fine. So you didn't break anything. Good job. Keep NOT breaking anything and focus on your work. Got it?

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?"

[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...?]

Right...right.

[The last of the books, papers, whatever else fell on the floor was done being collected up and placed back.]

Um... you got back early. [Awkward child was awkward at finding less awkward conversations to talk about involving possibly awkward things.]

[That and the concept of time was kind of a weird, jumbled thing now at his age.]

"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."

"None of your one-hit KO traps. While those are undeniably funny, I feel like it would defeat the purpose of what we're doing. And I'm not waiting for you to turn blue either. That's for heroes."

Val appreciates a good boss fight mechanic as much as anyone, but hurry-up-and-wait fights are really quite rude.

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.

[That earns Kit a glare.]

Yes, I did. What of it?

"Ohhhh, fine. But if you're going to take some of my fun away, I feel it's at least fair if you let me have that cape of yours for a day if I win." Truth be told, he always wanted to give it a shot, mainly just to see if he could make the bats appear or if that was strictly a Val thing.

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Defrost

Wildcard (Kit times)

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

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