datadiving | lobcorp/ruina AU catchall

Mm. Guns are more trouble than they're worth...though I can't say they don't have their uses. [ At least the one he's thinking of does. ] But people think they're invincible with a gun, and it's never quite as good for them as they think it is.

[ He glances briefly at the ornate augmentations Avery has, and then rolls down his pant leg, finished with his task. ] ...Thank you for the help. By the way. [ It's a little stiff, but it's sincere. He doesn't have a lot of reason to thank people. ]

Oh please. It may be a shriveled old husk, but I still have something of a heart in this chest of mine. You think I'd really leave you bleeding out on the floor of our Office?

[ There's a pause before he looks at him, his expression carefully blank. ]

I don't know what to think. I rather thought you'd like it better that way.

[ He straightens up uncomfortably, leaving the coat where it is. He doesn't have a spare shirt available at this exact moment, so he'll just have to make do with the one he has for now. He busies himself with getting himself decent again. ]

[Avery gives him an odd look.]

What in the world gave you that idea?

I asked you a personal question once, and you made it very clear what you thought about that. [ His voice is just the tiniest bit...something. Not irritated, exactly, but not particularly friendly either. ] And we're certainly not the same people as we were before.

[ Easier not to trust anyone, really, when it comes down to it. Not even people he'd been fond of, once. It's too easy for them to turn on each other, to turn on him.

At least Abnormalities were consistent in their betrayals.

He puts his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. ] So I thought it was better not to assume anything beyond the basics.

[Right. That question. That not-so-innocuous little thing.

Avery walks over to his desk and sets the bullet down, his back to Ekkehardt]

I still don't intend to talk about that... incident.

[He practically growls the word, but takes a breath, steadying himself.]

But that has nothing to do with our previous friendship, nor the possibility of a continuing one. Just stay away from that.

[ It doesn't reassure him in the slightest. Everyone has their little hangups, the things they don't want to talk about, but in this place...

He sees distortion everywhere. He sees it on Avery, too, nestled comfortably. Sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. But it's just one more thing he can't speak of. ]

Fine.

[ The word is bitter in his mouth. It comes out bitter, too. It's not as if he wants to particularly talk about that incident that had lost Avery his legs and almost his life; it's simply a reminder that the distance between them is a gulf, another weight around his neck.

His strange power that he gained at the cost of another's life (or, at least, it felt that way); it wipes away blood and wounds, even cleans away the scars given enough time.

He had hoped for normalcy, perhaps, some small splinter of it. But it's an unfair expectation to have.

Silly, to have hope.

He scrubs the last of the blood off his weapon and busies himself with sliding it back into his case. ]

[Avery frowns, then rolls his eyes]

Oh please. You're really going to act that put out about it? What, you think there aren't any other topics to talk about? You do know that there are other things in my life than that, don't you?

[The words are somewhat sharp and accusatory, defensive and, somewhat, betrayed. After all these years, is Ekkehardt really going to get upset with him for not wanting to talk about every tiny little detail of his life?]

Of course I know. [ He's not sure what he's upset about; it's not as much about the incident as it is about everything surrounding it, he wants to say, the fact that they might as well be strangers again.

It's complicated. Like so many other things in his life seem to be. ]

It's not about that. I'm not going to force you to talk about it. I - hm. [ He seems about to say something, and then cuts himself off. He doubts Avery would appreciate the idea of him being capable of Distorting. ] Never mind. [ He just waves a hand, pushing himself up from the chair. ] I regret it, that's all.

[ Ekkehardt used to be honest, possibly to a fault. He's far more cryptic now than he was back then. ]

["I did offer you the chance to come with me," Avery wants to say, but truth be told, he isn't sure if Ekkehardt would even be alive if he had.]

All right. In that case, let's look over our potential contracts for the day.

---

[There are no lights on in the Office the next day, and the scent of fresh-brewed coffee is absent. The office is a mess, with windows broken, furniture smashed, files and records ripped and burned.

Avery is nowhere to be found, the destroyed Office eerily silent.]

[ He wasn't certain that he was capable of feeling fear any more, but opening the door to a destroyed Office squeezes his heart with an emotion that is almost foreign to him after all this time.

His heart flutters, and he hates the weakness it brings up in him. Rather than succumb entirely to calling out for Avery like a lost child, he grips the handle of his weapon tightly, ready to draw it and pounce in an instant if there's any movement he doesn't like.

...After a moment, he knocks on the doorframe, seeing as the door is a bit of a lost cause. ]

[There's no response. No movement. Not even a stirring of wind.

Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be blood either, at least from the angle Ekkehardt is at.]

[ He steps into the room, still on high alert. There's no blood or traces of anything else to follow, which doesn't make him any more reassured (with the Distortions in this city, lack of blood trails might just mean that something else snatched away the victims).

Almost absentmindedly, he lifts a table and puts it back upright in its proper place. It hasn't been damaged much, though the scratches will probably need buffing out. ]

Avery?

[Again, there's no response.

And then the door--or what's left of it--opens, the man in question grumbling under his breath as he tries to drag in sacks of cleaning supplies, a couple of brooms awkwardly tucked under his chin]

Bastards... This is why I want to move this Office to a freaking Nest!

Oh, there you are. [ He almost laughs, some of the tension escaping him abruptly. He can't help but mostly-successfully stifle a smile, despite the circumstances.

He relieves Avery of the brooms and one of the sacks, setting them down in an easily reachable place. ] So what did we do to get this neighbourly greeting?

Edited 2021-06-16 23:59 (UTC)

[Avery scoffs and sets the other sack down, shaking his hands about to relieve the cramping from carrying them so long.]

My guess? Either some small Syndicate trying to reach the big time, or whatever remained of that Syndicate that went after you trying to get some revenge. Could go either way, really.

[He looks around and then freezes, letting out a cry of despair]

They even got the damn coffee maker! Who goes that far?!

I'll bring mine to replace it while you look for another one that meets your exacting standards. [ He doesn't go through as much coffee as Avery does, but he'd been sure to get something nice and modern for his own needs.

He starts to pull the overturned furniture into some semblance of order. Sweeping seems like a futile effort right now when there's so much mess already. ]

It's just not the same.

[Overdramatic much?]

But I'll take it. A good Office needs a heart, and I'm not about to forgive those jackasses for breaking ours!

A coffee machine is the heart of our Office? And here I thought it was the people in it. [ He sounds vaguely amused as he goes around putting things back upright. He grabs a broom and starts to sweep out the broken glass. ]

People are important--[He snatches up a broom of his own, getting to work on cleaning up with a little more force than is strictly necessary]--but those people need fuel! I need my caffeine, Ekke!

Fair, fair. [ It's not as if he doesn't go through a fair amount himself, though his job ensures that he gets some sleep, at least. ]

Did they destroy anything we can't replace? [ He leaves the broom for the moment, picking up the scraps of shredded reports and files. ] I don't recognise some of these.

A few files, probably. I try and make copies in case things like this happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed one or two.

[He grumbles to himself under his breath as he sweeps some splinters of shattered wood off to the side.]

I did do some work before you came along, you know. Unless you already read those files?

[Did something get mixed in?]

You've probably done more paperwork than I ever did...I suppose we'll find out when we add it all up at the end.[ He has a reasonable memory for text, but he might just not have read these ones yet. There's a lot to go through. ]

I could probably add something to this Office to make sure this doesn't happen again. Or, at least, it'll deter most people from trying. With your permission, of course. [ He glances at Avery. ]

lobcorp/ruina AU catchall

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