Nodding Off (Private; Atlas and Beyril)

"Did you? I'm fairly sure Harrison is the MVP for today," Ezra teased, leaning to nudge his brother jokingly. Harrison scowled as his eyes fell to the blood streaked across his shirt. "He literally saved us with the power of science. That has to be a check on his bucket list."

"It was just an idea," the meister said, shrugging and adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. His eyes surveyed the scene with a detached curiosity, but his lips had settled into a grin of smug satisfaction. "I figured if we could get water into the cracks of her armor and freeze it, the rapid expansion of ice could dismantle it. Lo and behold, I was right."

"Don't admit it to him or he'll never let that fucking grin off his face," Ezra murmured to Addy, amusement heavy in his voice. He tore a strip of fabric from his sleeve, mopping sweat and blood from his cheek. "This has completely spoiled my lunch hour."

Addy smirked, just letting the blood drip over her eye and down her face, "Either way, it was pretty damned sexy." Her eyes fell closed, and she rested her head back on the bench, "And I need to take a shower."

"Ha," Ezra managed, shifting to lay himself along the tabletop. The blood flow shifted with him, pooling under his eye like crimson tears. "We all need a shower. Harrison will undoubtedly want to burn that shirt. We've gone and spoiled the cotton, I'm sure."

"I can get it dry cleaned," Harrison responded irritably, shaking packets of sand loose from his clothes. "After the incident at the clock tower, it's a pleasant change of pace to not have to clean my own blood out of my clothes."

Addy pushed matted hair from her face, glancing between the two, "I don't think any of us are in a spot to finish classes today. So... Who is driving everyone home?" she laughed, a slight wince in her eye as she did so.

"Well I am currently without my car," Harrison admitted bashfully, turning a sandy pocket outwards and dumping the contents to the floor. "So that means..."

"That means we'll be riding in mine," Ezra interjected cheerfully. He rolled up from the table with a second wind, knees buckling as he hit solid ground. Wobbling, the weapon fell back onto the bench, defeated. "So perhaps we won't be hop, skip, and jumping to it, but we get to take the old girl out for a ride."

Addy smirked, "It's not really a ride till you gun it hard and fast." she winked, getting to her feet, a series of sparks trailing along her arms before she started to stumble over.

"Obviously, we just need to throw our weight into my darling brother," Ezra sighed, leaning dramatically against Harrison's shoulder. "Harrison, darling, would you escort/support the missus and I to the car?"

"Does that question actually include the option to say 'no'?"

"Of course not."

Harrison sighed, tucking an arm under Ezra and offering the other to Addy. "Shuttle services really aren't my thing, so if you make any smartass cab jokes, I'm dropping you."

Addy smirked, looking up at Harrison as she all but fell into his arm, "Something something riding in the back?" she giggled.

"Hardly," Ezra shrugged, tucking his hair back with one hand. "That car is full of crap right now. Someone is sitting in someone's lap."

"With my luck, I'll be sitting in yours," Harrison shot with a slight grin, heaving the injured weapons up the nearby stairwell leading outside.

Addy fumbled around her pocket for her phone, handing it with a limp wrist to Harrison, "Passcode is 7952. Address is in my contact info." she muttered, trailing off with her words before she went limp.

"Wha-oh hell," Harrison muttered, voice dropping to muffle the ensuing string of curses. He peered at Ezra, brow raised. "She's out. Meaning I'm going to have to carry her. Meaning you're going to have to get off of me."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Ezra asked incredulously.

"...there's a handrail." Harrison slid an arm under Addy's legs, scooping her up with relative ease as they scaled the stairwell. "Where's the car?" he inquired, adjusting his hold as they stepped into the sunlight.

"Just there," Ezra noted, gesturing to the black Chevelle SS parked tight against the curb. Four flights of stairs, two dozen curses, and three minutes of maneuvering passed before the brothers could settle into the car with any degree of comfort. Harrison slid easily into the driver's seat, smirking at the sight of an unconscious Addy pancaked against a conscious and still-bleeding Ezra. Pulling out her phone, the meister punched in the address before slipping out of the parking space and leaving the DWMA in the rear-view mirror.

Addy muttered a bit, shifting weight only once as the sharp turn out of the academy rolled her head over onto Ezra's shoulder. The adjustment produced a slight cracking noise from Addy's left side, but she didn't wake from it.

Harrison pulled to the curb directly opposite a plain, brickwork apartment complex sandwiched between two lavish high-rise condominiums. Checking the phone one last time, the meister sighed, scooping Addy from her seat easily. Arms occupied, he could afford little more than a carefully placed shoe to the knee to rouse Ezra.

"Hwa-wha...t'hell...," the brother started, rising sharply from his seat. He blinked sleep from swollen eyes and slumped back into the seat, smearing caked blood across the leather. "Jus' go on without me."

"Let's go," Harrison grunted, throwing another sharp jab to the weapon's knee, eliciting a string of unsavory comments about his manhood. "I need help getting her settled. You can be lazy after."

Sliding irritably from the seat, Ezra followed close in tow, hands stuffed in his pockets. Two sets of stairs and a fresh string of obscenities brought the brothers to apartment 206, tucked back at the end of the hall. Ezra knelt to the doormat, digging under it and pulling out a small, brass key. Fumbling, he slid the key into the lock, pushing the door open with a satisfied grunt.

Addy stirred a bit in Harrison's arms, muttering something about her head aching, and lifting her arm to press it to her temples. The apartment was a bit cramped, furniture in no real arrangement, just tossed where it was convenient. The door opened into a living room, clothes and books tossed haphazardly over the couch, and picture frames with no glass on the walls, bits and shards in the corners like it had been busted out. The kitchen was barren, no food in the pantry or fridge, except for some milk and a to-go box from a Chinese place down the street.

The bathroom door was propped open with an encyclopedia, and one of the bedrooms was locked. The other, the door wasn't totally attached on anymore, and blurry photos of witches flying through the night were all pinned on the wall as well as an aged family photo, lines of string connecting it to some of the photos out in a web.

"Lively," Harrison murmured, scanning the room for any semblance of organisation. Nodding to the couch, he allowed Ezra a moment to carelessly sweep books and clothes alike to the floor before laying Addy carefully to the cushions.

"So is that all?" Ezra quipped, picking up a shattered frame and studying it, setting it back down with red-brown prints on the frame's edge.

"Someone needs to stay with her," Harrison murmured, studying the unconscious weapon curiously. "She may have taken a hard enough hit to induce a concussion...in which case, someone needs to make sure she doesn't try to hop out of bed and bound back into the fray."

Addy lifted a finger to the bathroom, muttering, "Feel free to shower..." but not opening her eyes.

"That's my cue," Ezra muttered, pushing past Harrison to the bathroom. He looked back, gave one final rueful smile, and shut the door.

"I just wanted to read," Harrison murmured, setting into the chair butted up to the couch. He slid one hand under the knot of his tie, loosening it as the other wiped what blood remained onto his shirt. Settling into the seat, he lolled his head, eyes closing as he drank in the silence.

Only a moment passed as the sound of metal in the lock clicked through the door, and the slow lingering moment of the door opening echoed through the living room. The man that entered was tall, with lanky arms and legs, bags under his eyes and a frail appearance. He was willowy and his auburn hair had lost it's shine. His arms were full of papers and books, with a bag full of take out Chinese in one hand. He looked between Harrison and Addy on the couch, the sheer amount of blood on them both, then looked to the bathroom, and the sound of running water.

Harrison snapped back into focus, standing suddenly as his hands moved to dust himself off. "Ah, hi! You must be Addy's father," he began, stepping carefully away from the unconscious woman seated beside him. "I'm Harrison, a friend of hers from the DWMA. I'm sure this all looks rather bad and, uh...well it's about as bad as it looks, yeah."

Addy lifted a finger, "I'm fine, they're fine. Don't kick them out."

The man paused a moment, setting down his stack of books and meekly offering a hand, "My... apologies... I'm Adrastea's father; you can call me Ben."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Harrison offered bashfully, extending a blood-caked hand before retracting it, embarrassed. "I'm sorry about the peculiar state of affairs. Someone was giving my brother a difficult time and she bit off a bit more than she could chew..."

Addy snorted a laugh, "I could handle it."

Ben exhaled a sigh, eyes closed, "Isn't the first time. Won't be the last." he looked to the bag of take out, "Would... you like something to eat?"

"I appreciate the gesture, but I wouldn't want to intrude," Harrison admitted, grimacing at the muffled thump and string of curses coming from the bathroom. "In any sense, I doubt you planned for company, so we would be a bit short. We can be on our way once my brother finishes cleaning himself off."

Ben sat the bag down on a card table behind the couch, "I doubt Adrastea's going to eat. She usually doesn't after she's gone and torn herself up. The bounceback from her magic usually keeps her throwing everything up for the next 24 hours anyways."

Addy lifted her middle finger from the couch, "I'll just stick to the crackers, thanks..."

Ben nodded, tossing her a fortune cookie which landed on her stomach. "There's plenty if you'd like to stay a bit. We... don't have company often, in case you hadn't noticed. I don't think Adrastea's ever brought a friend over."

"To be fair, we brought her back," Harrison mused with a soft chuckle. He slowly sank back into the armchair, resting his hands against each other at the fingertips. "Does this happen partocularly often...?"