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 Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:50 pm
Overdressed?
Probably. It was just a birthday dinner.
Liberty had turned a back to the long, hanging mirror in the room, looking over her shoulder. The deep, navy-black jeans were tight on hips, down her legs. They were cut low on the front, against Liberty's common urge to go for something that just covered her hip-bones.
The sound of her phone buzzing interrupted her thoughts. Liberty practically leapt on the edge of her bed to snatch her phone. It was, in fact, Avery, and the woman was, in fact, in the parking lot.
'Be down in a minute!' Liberty's thumbs answered in a hurry.
Then, it was back to the mirror, adjusting the strands of hair that weren't there a second ago. Tucked, untucked? Oh, definitely untucked. These were not tucking jeans. Liberty undid the bottom button of the silky, reddish-brown shirt, pulling snugly on the ends so they parted perfectly over a belt buckle. Her brand new belt buckle. Liberty had a hard time not grinning at herself in the mirror and felt daring enough to undo the button just above her bra.
Grabbing her phone, keys, and stuffing them both in her pockets, she walked briskly past the kitchen. The door was locked in a hurry, and then Liberty was tearing down the stairs in newly polished leather boots. Was it just her or was the complex's entrance door exceptionally heavy today?
Liberty had slowed to a walk as she crossed the street to the parking lot, eyes scanning for Avery's car.
The excitement, along with her face, quickly drained of color.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:54 pm
Avery had been a little more excited than appropriate, to take a new, but increasingly close friend (they'd known each other for four months, now!) out on the town for her birthday, but no one had been around to take note of her good mood, and she indulged herself in it.
She may have purchased a new dress.
It was black, short, playful, and toed the line between Girls' Night Out and Date, and perfect for dinner and (maybe) a few drinks. Possibly even dancing, said her heels, which were of reasonable height and width.
Despite tapping out a text when she arrived, the brunette, whose often wild hair had been straightened and secured back in a sleek, low bun, decided she wanted to come up and give Liberty the opportunity to put the flowers Avery had gotten her in her dorm, rather than cart them around all night.
She grabbed the bouquet, bright, spring flowers neatly arranged in a round, clear vase (Avery highly doubted that Liberty or her roommates had a vase of their own), and stepped out of her vehicle, hitting the lock button on her key and smiling at the familiar sound.
She didn't get far, almost out of the parking lot and near the stair well, when something attacked her. Without the privacy to power up, and taken by surprise, Avery was at a distinct disadvantage.
The attacker was a Mirror Wraith without its handler, who perhaps was nearby, and unlike the usual behavior, where they flitted in and out of of their shard to drive-by collect energy, this one was aggressive as it pulled Avery's energy from her body.
There was the sound of glass shattering, as the vase fell from Avery's weakening hands to the pavement, water spraying across the ground and her feet and sending shards in a wide radius from impact.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:58 pm
The sound of shattering glass made Liberty sprint the final distance across the street. The pleased grin had been replaced by hard set brows, a firmly clenched jaw, and heavy, squared shoulders.
"Hey!"
It was dark, it was aggressive, it was unresponsive to her loud yell and that was all Liberty needed to know to make an assessment. While the civilian had no experience with mirror wraiths, she had plenty of experience with battling youma. And for all intents and purposes, this was now a youma; if Liberty had any say in it, a very shortly dead youma.
Slamming on the breaks as she reached Avery, Liberty used the last of her forwards momentum to grab at the wraith and jerk it's attention away from the brunette. The second it fluttered, Liberty punched it as hard as she could possibly manage. Expecting the first blow to barely harm it, she'd already began a second punch when a blast of air and a lot more of something else hit her.
Liberty landed flat on her a**, hissing out something beneath her breath more out of surprise than of actual pain. Dust covered her face, neck, and shirt, and she coughed, blinking away the sting in her eyes while she tried to recover.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:59 pm
Typically, it was a stupid idea to charge right into the middle of something, but in this instance, it paid off for both Liberty and Avery. The mirror wraith had been at it long enough to make Avery's knees buckle, and it was fortunate that she stumbled backward as its attention was drawn to the new arrival. Her back hit a nearby SVU a little too hard for comfort, knocking the wind out of her as Liberty's fist went flying through the air, exploding the creature on impact. As the redhead's second swing went wild, finding no resistance, Avery found herself fortunately outside of most of the blast radius, sinking down the side of the vehicle until she was seated on the ground.
It had been over so quickly, and her tired eyes worked to keep track of Liberty as she wheezed. "You look nice."
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:00 pm
Pulling herself back onto her feet, Liberty's gaze followed the sound. Her mouth formed a thin line as she crouched in front of Avery.
"You okay?" She did not wait for an answer, her eyes trailing the entirety of Avery's body. Reaching out a hand, she brushed some of Avery's loose hair away from her neck. But, no matter how hard she looked, there wasn't a scratch on the girl.
Hand finding Avery's arm, Liberty gave it a firm squeeze. "Let me feel your pulse. How does standing sound?" Liberty was going to be right there, to put Avery back on her feet, and try not to think about how many minutes she'd wasted tucking and untucking her shirt one last time.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:11 pm
"I'm fine," Avery managed a full breath, waving her good hand in the face of Liberty's concern. She wondered, briefly, if this was how all energy-loss victims felt, or just the ones drained by some out of control monster. Not me. Taking another shaky breath, she nodded to Liberty, letting the younger woman help her up, in lieu of attempting to push herself to her feet with a sprained wrist. "Are you okay?"
Leaning back onto the vehicle, rather than put her weight on her friend, the brunette raised her brows, the surprise in her tone somewhat diminished by exhaustion. "What the hell was that thing?"
She hadn't, after all, actually seen a mirror wraith before and it would look weird not to express some sort of concern about its strangeness. "I think it had me as a snack." Or part of her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:15 pm
"Little sore," came Liberty's immediate response. As Avery pulled from her, she kept her hands close, ready. But, the brunette seemed clearly capable of leaning against the SUV. It didn't stop Liberty from keeping a vary careful eye on Avery as she picked at the collar of her own shirt. "But fine."
As if expecting another one to appear, Liberty looked to where the wraith had been. Frown lines were beginning to etch into her forehead. "I don't know." And she really didn't. "But I don't like it."
The word 'snack' brought on a whole new phase of alarm. Liberty was giving Avery a hard look again, but she really did seem fine. "Let's get you home," she decided immediately.
"We can order and pick something up on the way there." If there was one of those crazy creatures out, Liberty had a feeling there might be more. Whether the Negaverse had lost control of something, or perhaps it had been Order, Liberty didn't want to know right now, and she certainly didn't want to be out on the street, as a civilian, putting Avery in danger.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:16 pm
"Well, I loved it." Avery's laugh was breathy from exertion, not pleasure, brows raised as she attempted a dry sort of humor regarding the situation. "You've got monster dust on your face," she informed Liberty, delaying the moment when she'd have to attempt to walk.
"I can go out," The words were spoken quickly, a worried assurance. It was Liberty's birthday, and she didn't want to see it ruined just because she felt like taking a nap. Hazel eyes dropped to the shattered remnants of the vase, the flowers which had already been scattered and stepped on.
Her lips pursed slightly, and the brunette bent, one hand pressed to the SUV as she picked up a lily that had survived the abuse. Offering it to Liberty, she smiled. "Really, I'm fine."
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:17 pm
"Yeah." Half a second passed, and the corners of Liberty's mouth twitched into a smile. "I do." It itched, but Liberty refused to try and clean it with her nice shirt, despite that it was also coated.
"I don't--" Want you to go out. Liberty wanted her at home, safe, where if anything suddenly changed, she could take Avery immediately to the hospital. What if there were adverse effects? What if it wasn't simply feeling weak?
The redhead bit her tongue, reaching out to take the lily. It was like her eyes had suddenly been opened to the entire mess and they scanned the shattered glass, the bruised, crushed flowers. Not even the dull lamplight of the parking lot could disguise the red in her cheeks. "Thank you." Liberty hadn't meant to whisper so quietly.
A deep breath. Compromise. "Well, we can't go anywhere until this gets water." Just once, Liberty tapped Avery's cheek with the soft flower petals. "And I can't go out dusty. Come inside for a while?" Liberty extended her arm, inviting Avery to walk with her, and lean her body against Liberty without the shame of actually needing the help.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:19 pm
Avery's bright eyes narrowed for a moment, studying Liberty's features in an attempt to uncover any traces of pity. There weren't any, and her tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth, knowing that while the redhead was trying to take care of her, she didn't have a legitimate reason to refuse.
And really, despite her sense of pride, she didn't want to refuse. Sitting inside seemed like a great idea.
She supposed, in a way, she was getting a taste of her own medicine. Of course, Liberty had been legitimately injured, and was much more stubborn. Avery just felt a little woozy.
"I suppose," she finally gave in, wrapping her arms around the one Liberty offered to support herself. She squeezed. "I can't really say 'no' to you on your birthday."
It only took them a few minutes to get up the stairs [Avery refused to let Liberty slow down on her behalf], and soon they were in her dorm. It was empty, which wasn't the oddest thing, since her roommates constantly seemed to be doing something, or someone, outside of the dorm.
Avery hoped Libby would overlook the fact that she immediately sat down on the couch - a little heavier than she'd intended. At least the redhead would have the tact not to comment on it.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:19 pm
Liberty had disappeared into the kitchen the moment Avery had sat on the couch. She wasn't gone more than a minute, and returned armed with a plastic vase filled with water, the lily, and a pair of scissors.
"Would you like any water?" Liberty flicked her eyes to Avery's and grinned.
The next, she was engrossed in tipping the vase and balancing it with the three fingers that were not gripping the lily. The scissors were carefully dipped under water, and awkwardly opened inside the face. Stem snipped, she righted the phase and spun the lily.
"What do you think? Facing towards the couch, or towards the door?" Maybe towards her room, so she could see it every time she woke up in the morning. Liberty twisted the vase slightly.
"I'll only be a few minutes in the shower. You have free reign of the dorm, alright?" Barring her roommate's space, but Liberty didn't think Avery would be doing any lockpicking anytime soon. "And if you want anything, I'll leave the bathroom door unlocked."
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:20 pm
"Water?" Her laugh was airy. "How about something harder?" She could use a drink. Avery briefly lamented the fact that she hadn't been attacked outside her own apartment, where there was a wealth of wine and liquor.
"Good to know," Avery murmured, her eyes lazily trailing Liberty as she moved industriously though the dorm. In her current state, Avery perceived Liberty to be almost preternaturally fast.
If you want anything,
The brunette's gaze lingered on Liberty's hips as she spoke, before drifting up to lock onto the glass in her hand. "Thank you," she reached out to accept the drink. "I'll be fine."
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:20 pm
"All I have is beer and whiskey." Though her tone was apologetic, Liberty was thankful at the lack of wine in the house. Never the less, when Avery took hold of the water, she fetched the rest. The whiskey was her favorite, smooth, made for sipping with ice, and it was wonderfully hot on the throat. Two types of beer, a small tray of ice, the whiskey and a chilled cup were set on the coffee table. Avery could make her own choices.
"The whiskey is strong."
After a firm look towards Avery, Liberty disappeared into her room. She made a small pile of boxers, a change of shirt, bra, and some comfortable pants to wear. Just in case. Picking out her change of clothes was easier; she unfolded a new, red plaid and chose black jeans.
She was in the bathroom barely a minute later, the water running hot as she scrubbed the gritty feeling from her face and arms. To Liberty's distaste, the dust had found its way to her hair. When she reappeared later, barefoot, socks in one hand and boots in another, Liberty's hair was at her shoulders, and still very wet.
"Hey." A quiet greeting as she settled into the unoccupied spot next to Avery.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:24 pm
Avery's brows raised innocently in the face of Liberty's scrutinizing stare, and she paused only a moment to look over the labels of the selection before her as the redhead walked off, presumably to get ready for a shower.
She chose the whiskey, dropping a few ice cubes into the glass and pouring herself a generous few fingers of the amber liquor. Avery swirled the short glass as she heard the bathroom door open and close, the sound of water as the shower was turned on, and was content to sip as she waited.
She felt Liberty before she heard her, the warmth of her freshly washed skin radiating as she joined her on the couch. "Hey," Avery returned, without bothering to adjust her position when their sides brushed.
The whiskey had soothed her frayed nerves, and her smile was drowsy despite its friendliness. "You didn't dry your hair," Avery had never seen it down before. Longer than she'd thought. "We can stay in, if you want," Her brow furrowed slightly and she narrowed her eyes at Liberty. "But no studying."
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:28 pm
The shower had eased Libby's mind, body, and voice. It felt good when their shoulder's brushed and legs bumped as Liberty pulled a sock over a foot.
"I will." Green eyes strayed towards Avery, pausing at the sprained wrist and moving up to lips. "I wanted to check on you, first."
Tilting her head towards the glass of whiskey as she put on her second sock, Liberty asked, "What do you think?" Maybe she would have had a glass herself if she planned on staying at her dorm.
"Let me drive you home," she eventually decided. "Then I won't be tempted to study, and we can pick up food before we leave." But, Liberty didn't own a TV, no board games, and her dorm wasn't really set up for entertaining. As if considering something she hadn't before, she added, "I promise I'm a very safe driver."
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