Chapter Text
If you were to ask anyone from Oakhurst what they thought of Avid Hunter Emcee, they'd most likely not know who you are talking about, maybe they would say that he's “just that jumpy nerd that always has his head down”. Now, if you were to ask the Oakhursts Beacon Scholarship students, they'd say one thing: “A mess.”
More specifically, if you were to ask The Coven, you would get more specific reactions. Owen would scoff and roll his eyes. Scott would raise his eyebrow and smirk, and Shelby would smile and say that he's their friend.
So honestly, what is Pyro supposed to think? Looking down at this hunched over nerd with the ugliest sweater vest on. By all means, this is a textbook loser that gets shoved into lockers, and by the bruise peaking out under his sleeve, they're pretty sure Avid did. So why the hell did he need a tutor?
“So!” Pyro drags his eyes back up to look at Shelby, who just clapped their hands together with a smile. “This is my friend Avid, I was telling you about him!” If anything Avid seems to shrink down further in his chair. “He needs help with history, I already helped with English and he’s got everything else down.”
“Right.” Pyro plops his backpack down and leans back in the crappy plastic chair of the library. They don't miss the look Avid wears as he looks at the patches on his backpack with a scrunched nose. Is he seriously getting judged by a twerp with glasses? Whatever, this is a favor for Shelby.
“Ok, let's see your work.” They sigh out.
-
By no means did Avid expect Shelby to grab a member of The Coven to help him study. When she had mentioned someone to help him out he expected Pearl- or hell! Even Sausage! He knew her and Scott were roommates, friends even. But Avid didn't know she was friends with the other two like that! Any thoughts he had were thrown out the window as soon as he saw the baby emo that he's been observing.
How does Avid know Pyro is a baby emo? Easy. Their ear piercings are still red and irritated, healing, obviously done by a piercing gun, to Avid's displeasure. The smudged eyeliner is just rubbed one way instead of both, and finally, the clothes. He’s not even going to comment on their layering. None of these things are necessarily bad per say….he was just trying to figure out if this was someone who was going to be a bully.
Although his worries went away when he learned they are a part of Scott's group, the “Coven”, a name that stuck after an incident that involved a camera flash and a fight which resulted in the red-eyed effect on Scott and Owen. Even if Avid had an attitude about them, he could admit that they were fine.
His internal panic is broken when he sees Pyro put his backpack down on the ground next to him and- Good grief… Is that a Blink 182 patch? The sewing is so bad Avid scrunches his nose, it's almost cute how bad it is.
“Ok, let's see your work.”
Avid blinks back up at Pyro twice before shamefully sliding over his just barely passing mock test for history. He doesn't even bother looking at his reaction, they spent two and a half weeks on this one unit of learning, you would think Avid would have picked up something. Shelby waves goodbye, but not before squeezing Avid's shoulder, and says something about meeting with Sausage for class.
Avid's attention is drawn back to the table. There's a sigh and finger tapping on the table as Pyro skims over the paper. “How do I say this nicely….?”
He puts his earbuds away to give his attention to the other. “You don’t.” Avid mourns, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses. He really does try in school, it's just that sometimes the lectures are a bit too overwhelming. “Just say it.”
“Your explanation on the short essay part is fine. The grammar is there, but it sounds like you're reading directly off of a book rather than putting it in your own words. You seem to do well in multiple choices but struggle when answering things without given answers.” They flip to the other page and snort. “So you really need help with everything. Seriously, what do you even do during lectures?”
‘Prick’ is the first bitter thought that enters his head. He rests his arms on the table and uses his arms as a cushion for his chin.. “I listen the best I can. Taking notes doesn't really help since I can't keep up while writing" Elle used to help him with that.
“So ask to borrow someone's notes.” Pyro tips back in his chair, balancing on the back legs. “Just because you can’t write that fast doesn't mean others have the same problem.”
“I don’t know anyone in that class.” Avid mutters.
There's a slam as Pyro leans forward, his weight making the chair snap back on the ground. Avid flinches at the sudden noise. “What? This is a mandatory history course, you don't know anyone in that class? At all?”
“Most people I know have already taken this class.” He muffles into his sleeve. “Didn’t keep their notes.” Most people being Drift and Shelby, who throw out their stuff as soon as they don't need them anymore.
There's a long silence before Pyro is standing up, throwing his backpack back on the table, pulling out multiple color coded folders and spiral notebooks. Avid watches with curiosity as they mumble to themselves while flipping through pages. Taking a chance to look at the two patches on his backpack Avid can't help but snort at the state of some of them. Really, he can tell Pyro tried their best, but there was no sewing technique so they are slowly coming undone.
Avid's thoughts are broken by a notebook slamming into his head. “OW?”
Looking up at his offender he sees Pyro glaring at him. “I keep my old notes. Copy that book and return it to me later. If you laugh at my bag again I'm hitting you seriously, I don't care if you're Shelby's friend. I’m not going to help you if you just make fun of me the entire time.”
“I was NOT making fun of you-” Avid starts, sitting up in his chair.
“The hell you weren't.” They growl out, leaning over Avid's small form. “That's the second time you've made that face at my bag.”
Was his facial expression that bad? “I was looking at the patches-” He starts to stand up. “The band patches- yeah!”
Pyro still towers over him, “Clearly, I could see your face. I bet you don’t even know what they are.”
Like he would know- Avid's face burns red as he pushes back at Pyro, “You have a Blink 182 and a Nirvana patch you prick!” Avid hisses out, shoving his face up at the taller. “Which are two of the most generic bands ever, by the way. A toddler could recognize them!”
To his surprise, they don't back down, instead sneering at him. “Oh, well excuse me for assuming that you wouldn't know considering I just saw your skills first hand.” They wave his mock test in front of his face, which Avid swiftly snatches back. “Clean your glasses, maybe that's the real reason why you need my notes, you can’t even see the lecture board in class.” They hissed.
“I can see fine!” Seriously? Why are they arguing like children? This is the type of annoyance Avid hasn't felt in months. The only thing that's keeping him from launching at Pyro is the people watching and the Librarians staring at the back of his head. He thinks of the one thing he told himself when he got here: ‘Keep a clean record.’ but he was on the edge of snapping. He was about to say something else but was interrupted when someone cleared their throat.
“As amusing as this is to watch.” Scott drawled out. “Pyro, Dear, did you still want to get food?” Avid doesn't know exactly when Scott showed up.
Pyro gave one last look to Avid before gathering their things and shoulder checking him so hard that he stumbled back into his seat. Scott gave Avid a little smirk and a wave as they began their trek to class.
Face flushed with embarrassment, Avid yelled at their backs. “I bet you don't even know who Amy Lee is, you poser!” He got a few odd looks from the other people in the room, plus a glare from the librarian.
He heard Scott snort and could faintly make out words, “I see you've finally met Avid, don't mind him, he's not good at first impressions.”
Him and Scott were…… ok to each other, most of the time. Shelby had introduced them to one day, proudly proclaiming that Scott was letting Shelby room with him right down the street.
Avid had given Scott a nasty up-down right then and there, observing his pale skin and ruffled clothes tied neatly together with a corset. By all means, he was gorgeous.“He looks like a vampire.” Was the only thing that Avid said at the moment. “Are you sure he isn't just luring you into his place to kill you?”
Shelby had given him this look that made his heart drop to his feet. Turns out making a joke like that was rude, his bad! Avid had kept his head down the rest of the introduction in a self appointed timeout.
“Well, I do hope I get an apology for that accusation.” Scott had leaned down over Avid. “A real one, something that doesn't involve this pity act of yours.” Scott had then straightened up, drawing his fingers to ‘V’, placing it below his own lips, then tracing it up to his bridge, then eyebrows. “I do hope at our next meeting, you can drop the act.” Then he waved goodbye with Shelby in tow.
It wasn't until later that night when Avid was putting his piercings in to sleep, did he realize Scott was pointing out the holes on his face, that his last sentence wasn't about his pity act, but rather dropping the persona. He wasn't proud of the shriek that echoed in the bathroom.
Needless to say Scott scared the shit out of him.
He tries to take a few deep breaths now that the source of his annoyance is gone, only to become more frustrated the more he thinks about it. Unfortunately, he doesn't calm down, time to resort to old reliable. Avid fumbles with his things and stomps out the library, he angrily digs his flip phone out of his pocket and spams the worn keypad until he has the right letters.
You:
“u free”
[DO NOT [ANSWER]:
“y”
You:
“meet in b3 lab”
[DO NOT [ANSWER]:
“rules?”
You:
“no”
[DO NOT [ANSWER]:
“k”
_
If you were to ask anybody from Limbo, a town two hours away from Oakhurst,“Who is Avid Hunter Emcee?” You would get a lot of answers.
“The emo guy one with the tall girl always with him?”
“He’s actually really nice, well, besides his senior year.”
“Someone with too many piercings.”
“The kid that gets in fights like it’s his job.”
Moving from Limbo to Oakhurst was supposed to be a change of pace for both Elle and Avid, both getting offered the Beacon Scholarship. They were beyond excited to move out together, that was until Elle's heart stopped on a regular Tuesday, while hanging out with Avid.
That night was terrifying for him, choking back sobs as he followed the 911 operators instructions for chest compressions. Shaking as paramedics took her away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. Letting his head fall in relief when her heart started again, gasping on air as she crashed 20 minutes later, only to immediately stabilize.
He held her hand in the hospital room as she got diagnosed with an unknown cardiovascular problem. They wanted to keep her for observation until they could diagnose it properly, they said she could crash again at any moment. The town's primary education was in healthcare, so really, it was the best place for her to be.
Avid was dead-set on staying, ditching Oakhurst and just continuing education in Limbo. It wasn't until she talked him out of that idea, "Haven't you always wanted to be a chemical engineer? Come on, Oakhurst has the best program around, don't just ditch that for me.” Then a mischievous grin, "You can take my bike with you and visit on the weekends. Not like I’m allowed to drive it anymore.”
“I can’t do that.” Avid had whispered to her. “I don’t have my licenses for one.”
She had rolled her eyes. “Then get it. It's about time you learned instead of asking me for rides everywhere.”
“But that's your baby, what if I mess it up” She rubbed her thumb across his knuckles, like he was the one in the hospital bed.
“I’ll kill you.” Elle smiled brightly. “No, seriously. Either you take it or she rusts in a storage unit somewhere. I would rather you have it for now.”
“Sure.” He relented
“I’ll sign the title over to you and everything. Just come visit me with her.”
Right, visiting, being hours away. The thought of leaving her behind almost made him start crying again. She would make new friends, she'd always been the more sociable one between the two of them. “I'll look like an idiot without you next to me.” He’d croaked out.
She snorted, “You already look like an idiot, even next to me.” Then she paused, looking at his face, “Well, if you don’t want to draw attention you could always just be normal? Dress comfortably, and keep your head on straight. I mean, it's been years since I've seen you without metal in your face.”
Avid weakly snorts. “Say you! I think this is the first time I've seen you without piercings in years.” The hospital had him take out her piercings before they did the scannings.
Elle grimaced, “Yeah, maybe I can get you to grab my plastic ones from home? I don't want them to close up.”
A fond smile. “Yeah, of course.” Anything for his sister.
So, he moved away with a tearful goodbye and a promise to visit on weekends. He took her advice, calmed down, changed clothes, no piercings, and no makeup. It was hard, he's spent years in a mindset of confidence with Elle, like they are untouchable, now she's not next to him.
Now, don't get it twisted, Avid wasn't ashamed of his past, far from it. He still listens to his favorite bands, wears his old clothes in private, and sleeps with his piercings in so they wouldn't close. He even met his roommate, Drift, who was so much and nothing like Elle. She thought it was the funniest thing that he was secretly edgy in their shared dorm so she kept his secret safe.
There was another thing Avid didn't leave behind, embarrassingly enough.
“I miss Elle.” He muttered, breathing erratic as he tried to catch his breath. Staring up at the gross school ceiling from where he was sprawled on the even grosser floor. Building three was mostly used as storage now, the water and electricity still worked, but it's empty, no cameras, perfect for things like this.
‘Elle would be pissed with me if she knew.’ Avid thinks bitterly, swallowing a mix of saliva and rust.
He heard heavy huffs from across the room, then a splat from someone spitting in a sink. “You went to see her a few days ago. Is that what has you riled up? Seriously?”
Sitting up with a groan and hand clutching his ribs, Avid stared at Owen, who was still spitting blood into the sink. “Well, it wasn't you.” He hissed out.
“Cute.” Owen hisses back mockingly, teeth stained pink.
Fighting.
It's been Avid's crutch for far too long for him to just stop doing it. A week into the new school year, Avid pissed off Owen enough for them to almost kill each other behind this very building. It bloomed a smidgen of respect between the two of them. Did they care for each other? Maybe once.Now? No. They both knew how to take a hit. If they wanted to get frustration out without someone snitching, they unfortunately had each other's numbers.
Healthy? Absolutely not.
“I wasn't even making fun of his bag!” Avid whined out of nowhere as he rested his head against the wall. “I was looking at the sewing they did on the patches. It's such a mess.”
A snort and then a wince from the other as Owen redid his messy bun of white hair, showing off the neat tattooed vampire bite on his neck.“Who did you piss off this time?”
“......Pyro.”
A bark of laughter that was cut off by a wince from an aching chest, a hit Avid landed earlier. “You-…You’re joking! Oh! That's brilliant, well done.” Avid can practically taste the sarcasm in the last part. It's clear Owen finds this funny for reasons he won’t know.
He knew Owen probably doesn't care about his issues, but he will always be there to revel in Avid's misery. “He said I probably didn't know what his patches were! As if those are the two most popular bands right now!” No, Avid is not going to get over that. He did not spend an hour each morning getting ready while listening to his playlists to be told he probably didn't know who they were.
A hum and a small cough from breathing too hard. “Are you sure it was about that?”
Huh? Avid looks up to see Owen, rubbing at his chest but now staring boredly at his phone. Tapping through, seemingly reading messages. “What do you mean?” He asks cautiously.
Owen rolls his eyes, eyebrows furrowing as he stares at the old phone. “Think about it from an outside perspective. Pyro is helping you with school, and in turn you make faces at patches on their bag. To them, it just seemed like you were going to bully him.”
Great, now Avid looks like a bully. “Is that how it looked?” A weak question he already knows the answer to now that the situation has been laid out, Elle always said he had the most aggravating facial expressions.
The elder just huffs and waves his phone, "That's what Scott told me, and from what I know about you? Absolutely. You’re not the type to think about how others see things.” Not giving Avid a chance to say anything else, Owen walks past him (but not without giving Avid one last kick.) and exits the room. Slamming the door shut with a thud.
Avid groans in the empty room. He's still mad.
_
Scraping himself off the floor of the lab had taken him awhile, he will admit. Owen probably had some leftover frustration from when the bus got delayed a few days ago, causing his meeting with Louis to get cut short. The two love birds only get so much time together now with Louis doing an internship in Limbo.
Now he was back in his dorm, listening to music as he copied Pyro's neat notes into an empty notebook of his own. He had taken off his layers and put in his piercings almost immediately, rubbing his tattooed neck after it was suffocated under cloth for hours. Dorm sweet dorm.
Opening the notebook, Avid honestly expected to have spent hours deciphering the chicken scratch that almost every emo had, but was pleasantly surprised by the neat and almost cursive-like font they wrote in.
Avid chewed on his lip piercing as he turned the page, instantly breaking out in a smile when he saw a little rat doodle in the corner, the previous page had a cute pig. It's nice to see their personality like this, a complete switch from what he saw at the library.
He sighs, right, the library. After talking (complaining) to Drift about the incident, she decided that even if Avid didn't mean to be a prick, he still was one. Pyro got defensive over his interests as anyone would be. He could count the amount of times he's started fights over that exact thing.
“Ughhhhhh” He grips his hair in frustration, he's mad at himself.
Drift peaks around the corner, “You alright bud?”
“I’m an asshole.” He mourns in hands. “I’m an asshole and I don’t know how to apologize to them.”
His roommate snorts, "That's the thing Avid, you don't ever apologize. Not when you eat my food and not even when you accidentally broke Shelby's mask. Let's not even mention Scott.”
She rounded the corner and ruffled his hair far too aggressively. Ow. “Just do what you always do and act pathetic until they feel bad for you.” Ok, yeah she was still mad that he ate her leftover pasta.
Avid lets his forehead slam into his desk. He’s such an asshole.
_
Honestly, after Avid flubbed up his interaction with Pyro, he assumed that the tutoring was off the table, maybe he would have to give Pyro's notebook to Shelby to hand back to them. That he would be cursed to avoid Pyro until graduation. So color him surprised when Pyro's backpack was slammed next to him when he was reading in the library.
He squeaked as they roughly sat in the chair next to him, leaning into his space, Pyro reached over and pulled out an earbud so Avid could hear what he's about to say. Fast as lightning Avid paused his shuffle before music could leak out. They watch with an amused expression.
Avid leaned away after he processed what’s happening, he hid behind the book, then slowly peaked over it. Only to be met with a cocky smirk as Pyro leaned closer. “I was told that you got into a-” A glance to his clothed shoulder where a bruise was healing underneath.”..altercation, with someone.”
Avid flinches away, he's about to fall out of his seat if he moves back any further. “I- uh.”
Satisfied with something, Pyro leans back. “Owen can be rough. Hopefully he didn't hit you too hard, that would make my life as a tutor harder if something else got knocked loose.”
Rude.
Of course Owen would take this as an opportunity to brag about hitting Avid, that's not unexpected, but for Pyro to come and rub it in his face? Avid’s a little lost for words. “I-...no, I’m fine..” It's not like he doesn't deserve to be taunted, especially by Pyro. Although he doubts they know the circumstances of the fight, let alone that Avid asked for it.
They hum, smile still on his face. “Good. So, did you copy those notes I gave you?”
Avid puts the book down, grabbing his black and purple peace sign bookmark, shoving it in place. “Yeah, I did, L-let me give it back to you.” Shuffling around in his bag for the notebook, he curses when finds his spare earbud wires tangled in the spirals of their notes, probably happened when he threw them in haphazardly this morning. Flustered and red faced with the amount of fumbling he's managed in the span of a minute, Avid looks back at Pyro.
“Wow.” Pyro says slowly. “You are a mess.”
Yeah. That's completely fair. Avid untangles the wires and hands the notebook back. Wrapping the earbuds back up properly this time before throwing both pairs back in the bag. “Thanks for letting me copy your notes.” Is the only thing he can choke out right now lest he ask for a fist to the face to curb his embarrassment.
They pause a bit, looking down at the notebook in consideration before speaking. “No problem.” He said slowly, putting their notes back in the bag. “Did you need any other help? I have a few hours before debate club so I can stay for a little bit.”
He sounded awkward asking the questions but any queries or thoughts that Avid had beforehand completely slipped from his mind. “Debate club?”
Pyro gains a bit of confidence back, they puff out their chest, proud of what he's about to say. “I’m Oakhurst Top Speaker. Won a trophy last year.”
Avid nods slowly, processing what's been laid in front of him. Shitty sewing, new piercings, half smudged makeup, academically smart, neat notes, and is on the debate team? An academic emo wasn’t something on his bucket list to be honest, “What was the topic of debate?”
They seem all too eager to tell him about the debate. Leaning forward and gesturing with his hands, bracelets clanking together. A smug ‘I’m better than you’ expression crosses their face. “Our debate was about issues in the justice system and the best way to tackle it. The whole thing was recorded, it’s on a tape somewhere around here.”
“That’s neat!” There was no fake enthusiasm there, and honestly? Avid was interested in seeing that tape. “So is the trophy in the showcase?”
“Yup.” They pop the ‘p’ with a smile, blue eyes crinkling. “Along with a plaque with my team's name on it.” His eyeliner is still smudged one way.
Avid shifts to face Pyro fully. “That’s so cool. I didn’t know you were on the debate team.”
Pyro tilts his head back at Avid in response. “That’s how I met Scott, well, not debate club, but debate class.”
Avid snorts, “Yeah, that makes sense.” Likely place for Scott to be, that man loves to use his words to sway an audience. Back to the main topic, he looks at the book he was reading. “But uh, I did need help with a few things.” He mutters. This was something he could look up on the computers but finding an open one after classes end is hard. Avid can't be ashamed to ask for help now, not when he knows Pyro will help, even when he arguably doesn't deserve it.
Pyro sits up, “Which part?
He taps his fingers on the table, in the rhythm to Faint, mindlessly. “There are too many books with conflicting information about aqueducts.” He bites his lip, “I’m getting confused.”
Their eyes flick to his fingers for a moment before settling on the book, reaching over him and grabbing it, completely ignoring the sputtering Avid did as Pyro got close. They turn the book around and read the synopsis and huff a laugh. “I’m not sure how you're passing your other classes.”
“Wha-” Avid squeaks out, jaw dropping in shock.
“You-” The older flips the book around to show Avid the back. “-picked up a book called “The History of Aqueducts". Which focuses on the Aqueducts in Ancient Rome AND Greece.” They use their finger to point to Greece, although Avid's eyes first went to the ring decorating his finger. ”When you need only be focusing on Ancient Rome's Aqueducts. They're very different.”
Avid moves his eyes to look back at Pyro before he shrinks back in his seat, he didn't know they were that different. Which must have shown in his face because Pyro drops the book on the table and pinches his nose. “But you didn’t know that….God, do those eyes of yours do anything?” They stand up abruptly and yank Avid's wrist to drag with him. “Come on.”
The grip is tight, but not tight enough for him to be stuck, he could shake out! He's just stunned. He's been degraded and manhandled within moments of each other, give him a moment to process!
Pyro lets go of his wrist and jerks his jaw at the wall of books. “These are historical books about Ancient Rome, where you should have been looking. Not just going to ‘A’ and grabbing this first book that said Aqueducts. Honestly, your ability to not use that space behind your eyes is-”
Avid tunes him out, not intentionally. It's just the way that Pyro's lip curls up in a sneer at him as they explain why he's dumber than someone continuously pulling on a push door, something curls in his stomach. What's with this guy and constantly mentioning his eyes?
“-are these things even useful to you?” Is all he hears before his glasses are lifted from his nose. Avid makes a noise as they unhook from the back of his ears. Then, it's being held up to his face. “I mean, come on. You can't seriously tell me that you can see through the amount of finger prints on them.” Pyro holds them carefully, but from what Avid can tell, they are looking straight at his face.
“I can!” Avid fumbles with his words, he recognizes the feeling. His face burns red as he takes back his glasses, but not before using the bottom of his sweater to wipe off some of the prints. “Better?” Avid adds weakly as he puts them back on his face, finally seeing him in clarity.
It's silent between them before Pyro's face shifts into a complicated expression. They roll their eyes and huff, grabbing a book off the shelf and shoving it in Avid's chest. “It will be better when you actually start reading.” and then he's walking past him back to the table Avid claimed when he first came to the library.
Avid sits down back in his spot and slowly opens the book, peeking at Pyro who's tapping at the keys on his phone. They raise an eyebrow at him and they flick their eyes back to the book that's not even opened to the first page. “Are you going to take notes or are you just going to stare at me?”
He flushes with embarrassment, right, he's supposed to be studying. He flips to the first page and grabs his pencil. He's actually trying to pass this class.
It's quite easy for him to get into the motion of studying, especially with Pyro next to him. He occasionally asks quiet questions to Pyro but otherwise they aren't even talking to each other, just doing their own things.
Quite a bit of time flies by, he can see the sun starting to fall. ‘Pyro will have to head to his club soon’ Avid mentally notes while scribbling something down.
His concentration is only broken when Pyro suddenly jerks forward. Avid looks up to see an unknown guy with his arm extended behind Pyro, like he just shoved their head down. With a quick glance to Pyro he can see their expression is dangerously aggravated.
“Havent seen you here in awhile, Jack.” The guy hisses out the name like its a holy word that repels demonic creatures. ”I thought you were too good for the library now?”
Avid doesn't need to know who exactly this guy is, he realizes quickly. He has no interest in learning about bullies, especially those who peaked in high school and never left.
Pyro grips his phone tightly in their hand. “You don’t see me here because you're never in the library.” They hiss back, turning to face their bully. “Now scram, Czeslaw. I’m busy.”
Czeslaw scans the table with a growing grin. “Yeah, real busy on your phone.” His eyes drag over to Avid's side, book open with a hand paused over a notebook. Suddenly interested in him, Czeslaw leans closer to Avid. “And who are you?” He says coyly.
“Don’t-” Starts Pyro.
“Avid.” He says shortly, eyes narrowing. He can’t help the way his jaw tightens as the bully gets closer to him. In the corner of his vision he sees Pyro's eyebrows raise, seemingly shocked by the turn in his attitude.
The raven's smile seems to dim a bit before it brightens tenfold. Against his better judgement, Czseslaw speaks again. “Well Avid, what are you and Jack doing? I can’t imagine it's anything entertaining.”
Avid flips his notebook closed and shoves the book shut. He was done with it anyway. “Pyro and I were studying. Unfortunately we ran out of time.” He scoots back in his chair, well aware that Czeslaw had to take a step back in order to not to get hit.
“Is that right?” The bully smiles. “That is unfortunate. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around.” The last part sounds like a threat.
He bites back a ‘Hopefully not.' instead giving a short nod. Avid makes eye contact with a stunned Pyro and jerks his head towards the exit. Turning his back to Czeslaw, he bends down to grab his bag off the floor and shoves the notebook in it. Grabbing the books and putting it in the return pile for the librarian, he walks towards the exit.
He hears fabric brushing against each other and a grunt from Czeslaw before Pyro is jogging to catch up to him. It isn't until they reach outside the library that Pyro says anything. “You didn’t have to do that.” They grit out.
Avid scrunches his nose as the wind hits his face, it's a bit colder out now that the sun isn’t midsky. “What? You were about to leave anyway, right? You said earlier you had debate club.”
Pyro bites his lip, "I do.” He confirms, only to drag his hand down his face. “ He's going to mess with you now that he's seen you with me.”
There's a tone to their voice that almost makes Avid stumble, looking over, he sees Pyro's face pinched in what looks like annoyance? He honestly can’t tell. “Does he mess with Scott and Owen? Shelby?” Avid questions slowly. He would know if Czeslaw messed with Shelby, only because they would complain about it.
“No. He knows not to mess with Owen and Scott.” They slide their hand through their hair. “Shelby cussed him out once and he never bothered her again.” Oh, it’s that guy. Pyro exhales slowly, footsteps dragging as he tackles the mental turmoil, "It's just that you're an easy target, he won't feel intimidated like he does with Owen or Scott.”
Pyro’s right, he's not intimidating like Owen or Scott. Owen has a reputation for starting and finishing fights with a surplus of blood. Scott? He doesn't need to raise a hand to make you feel worthless and beaten on the ground. All of that is true, but an easy target?
Avid hums, he won't let this be a weight on his shoulders. “I wouldn't worry about it.”
“Huh?” The taller deadpans. “What do you mean?”
The tone shift brings a smile to Avid's face.“Exactly what I said. Don’t worry about it.”
Pyro stops in their tracks. “You-” He growls, shaking his head. “You can’t be serious. Listen, I’ll ask Apo to watch you or something, you have a few classes with her, right?”
Avid stops to face him, the sun burning his back through his layers. He does have classes with her, but he never told Pyro that. He can’t help the lopsided smile at what that implies. “Why? Do you and Apo talk about me?” He can't help but tease them, he needs Pyro to not be so stiff..
He watches as Pyro's face fills with red. “We do not! They just complain about you when she has to peer review your short story prompts!”
Avid winces in sympathy, ok, yeah. His stories tend to be on the darker side, like a hunter losing his sense of self, whereas Apo’s tend to be happier, such as a reunion between two lovers. “That's completely fair.” He says.
Pyro kicks the ground and starts walking again, Avid quickly falls in pace with him. “I’m serious about Czeslaw though.” Pyro mutters again, the weight snaps back in place. “He’ll push you until he gets the reaction he wants. You didn’t react to him earlier, I’m sure he wants to see how you'll break.” He adds bitterly.
Avid knows the type, but he also knows that it takes the wrong person to snap for disaster to happen. “Has he not been snapped at enough yet?”
Pyro scoffs, “Clearly not. He picks battles he knows that he can win. Even if he gets hurt, he gets something out of it in the end.”
“Sounds like you know first hand.” He doesn't know what made him say that.
An exhale and piercing glare to the ground. “It was like he stole a part of me, and forced it back in place. Nobody regarded me the same.”
“Right.” Avid whispers out. He grips his bag strap, only ugly people can draw out the ugliness in others. He’s sure now that Pyro wasn't always this bitter, that he was once upon a time he didn't bite. This makes Avid feel 10x worse for their first encounter, he should have been kinder. Not much he can do about it now though.
“There you are!”
Both Avid and Pyro's head snap up to see Scott tapping his foot on the ground outside the main building.
“You Mister.” He stares at Pyro while he drags out the ‘you’. “Told me you were going to meet me here 5 minutes ago!” It’s clear Scott's not actually mad at Pyro, just playing up for theatrics.
Pyro lets his shoulders slump and a small smile makes its way on their face. It's nice to see after what happened. As they get closer Pyro lets his bag slide off their shoulder, hitting the ground with a thump. Then, in a few more steps, Pyro's face is tucked in Scott's shoulder in a hug. The side of them Avid hasn’t seen yet.
Scott's hand immediately comes up to cup the back of his head. Dragging his painted nails through their hair. “Oh dear, what brought this on?”
Avid picks up the bag that was discarded and slings it over his free shoulder. There's a moment when nobody answers, Scott's eyes narrow at Pyro’s head and then move over to Avid, finally acknowledging him.
‘What happened?’ He mouths.
Not interrupting the moment by speaking, he makes a ‘C’ shape with his hand. Scott stares at it for a moment before clicking his tongue. “I see.”
“Hes gonna go after Avid.” A muffled voice says after a few more seconds pass.
The supposed dead man snorts, “I told you not to worry about it.”
“He’s right.” Scott agrees immediately. “Theres no need to concern yourself if that's the case.”
Pyro rips his face from the man's shoulder, it's a bit red from how deeply he was pressing in. “Scott you know-”
“Of course I know.” He cuts in. “and I’m telling you, it will be alright.”
The poor thing looks torn from what he knows and what he's being told. “You’re serious?”
“Dead.” Avid replies at the same time as Scott's “Quite.”
“What? Is Avid just secretly buff under all those layers?” They bite out.
Avid lets out a giggle and Scott smirks, “No. But imagine.” He giggles more.
“I’m telling you-” Scott smooths out Pyro's shirt. “-that things will work out.”
The shorter of the three holds out Pyro's bag for him, “Do you want me to pinkie promise you?”
The brunette barks out a laugh at the absurdity, their eyes crinkling a bit as he grabs his bag back. “No. No, that's alright.”
“Now that that's done, can we go inside now? Warm light doesn't go well with my skin.” Scott huffs as he looks at the sun's descent.
Pyro immediately hops to the door with a laugh and Avid rolls his eyes as he follows. “Ok vampire, I see through your tricks.”
The stylish man gasps, slapping a hand over the tattooed bite mark on his neck. “How dare you accuse me! I am no such thing!”
“Right.” Avid says sarcastically. The door shuts behind them and the smell of waxed floors floods their noses. “Totally not a vampire, sure.”
Scott drops the hand and smirks, drawing his arm around Pyro and drawing him closer. “Speaking of vampires, guess who has an appointment?”
Avid's jaw drops, in shock. Whipping his head up to look up at Pyro. “You’re gonna match Scott and Owen?” Is the first thing he blurts out of pure shock, I mean, who would want to match with them? The next question out of his mouth is for his own curiosity. “Is this your first tattoo?”
“Yep and yep.” Pyro rubs the spot where the supposed mark will go. “Mainly just Scott I think, Owen didn’t seem to have a real opinion.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Goldsmith.” Avid addresses Scott, whose eyes are filled with mirth, before switching back to Pyro. “I hope you have a high pain tolerance.” Neck tattoos hurt. He would know from experience.
They wince before it’s smoothed over by false bravado. “I’ll be fine.”
Scott snorts, quickly covering his smile with his free hand. “He’ll be ok.”
“All he needs is a photo with the red glare in his eyes.” Avid muses to himself, thinking back to the photo Shelby showed him of Scott and Owen, started their whole vampire shtick.
Scott waves his hand. “Oh, that's already been done. They had a little incident last year, quite the stir up it caused.”
Avid whips his head to Scott as Pyro groans in embarrassment, “Please don’t, I had prayer cards slipped under my door for months.”
“Happens to the best of us.” Scott sympathizes.
He had an incident last year? What does that mean? Avid is gonna have to ask Shelby to show the photo to him later or something. He is so stunned by the revelation that he doesn't hear what Pyro says to him. “Huh? Sorry.”
“I said.” Pyro tilts his head, observing what little skin Avid has showing. “What about you?”
Avid trips over his feet for a moment. He tilts his head back at Pyro, “What? Getting a tattoo?”
“Yeah.” Pyro mutters, ignoring his stumble. They squint at him, trying to imagine. “You don’t really seem like the type of person to get tattoos, if I'm honest.”
Avid sees Scott bite his cheek to stop laughing, and honestly? Avid’s fighting not to just collapse to the floor with tears. “Maybe.” He chokes out, clearing his throat he elaborates. “Depends on what it is.”
“What kind would you get?” They push further.
He pretends to ponder. “Not sure. Maybe something matching with my sister.” He already has a handful of those.
Pyro hums and nods. “I wasn't too sure about getting one at first, then Scott threw out the idea and, well.” He laughs as he gestures to Scott, who looks like he’s about to start laughing at Avid, but expertly smoothes his expression when Pyro looks over.
“You flatter me.” The rich man laughs, there's a moment of silence before he addresses Avid. “Say, Why are you joining us on our walk? Were you invited to spectate debate club?”
It just registered that they were all walking in the same direction, “Oh! No, Drift has her last class over here so I usually walk home with her after I’m done in the library.” He fiddles with the straps of his bag, “But uh, we left the library early so I'll probably chill in the hallway.”
Pyro slows down and looks behind him, as if making sure nobody was following. “When does Drift’s class end?”
Avid reaches in his pocket to flip open his phone, the clock says 5:52pm. “Um, it's supposed to end around 6pm but it's probably going to be more like 6:15? The professor likes to go beyond time.” He says awkwardly.
Scott's nose crinkles at the thought. “You really are going to sit by the door, on the disgusting hallway floor, like a mutt, for 20 minutes?”
Pyro's nose also crinkles up at the thought of it and Avid can’t help but snort at the mimicked behavior. “I’ve done it before, I’ll just listen to my music.” He’s also been sprawled across the disgusting floor of a storage building, so he’ll be fine.
“Suit yourself.” Scott mutters, face still scrunched up in revulsion.
Avid snickers and slows down as they approach Drift class. In one movement he slides down the wall and tucks his backpack on his lap. He looks up at Pyro and Scott as they stare down at him.
“Oh, you were serious.” Pyro blurts out.
“Yeah!” Avid giggles as he digs through his bag for his earbuds and ipod.
He hears Scott snort. “Ok, well you have fun with your floor time. I’m sure you could use the time to decompress.”
Pyro makes a noise before looking at Scott, who is walking away. “Uh- Wait!” They fumble with their phone before handing it to Avid.
Avid takes it with cautious hands. “What?”
“Your number, please.” They rush out as Scott continues to walk.
“Oh!” Avid fumbles with the phone (The newest model! What!), smashing in his number before putting his name in as ‘avid’ before he could think about it. “Ok-”
“Thanks! I'll text you later!” Pyro swipes his phone back, yelling at him over their shoulder as he runs after Scott.
Avid slowly puts his earbuds in as he watches the duo disappear around the corner. He hugs his bag to his chest. He doesn't know why his face burns hot, but he finds he doesn't mind.