Another Headache (Private; Beyril and Atlas)

"I don't pick fights," Ezra insisted, slinging his bag over one shoulder. "Fights find me. I have a very...intimate relationship with violence. It can't keep its hands off of me." He grinned smugly, nudging her shoulder with his own. "You'll live. You won't enjoy the day, but you'll live. Believe me, if my classes haven't killed me, yours wont."

Addy smirked, raising a brow, "Intimate, eh? Sounds like you're into some kinky shit, Ezra Mercer." She teased, "Maybe if they kill me, I'll be able to go back home and sleep. I could have been out another 8 hours and wouldn't have cared a bit."

"It's a love/hate relationship," he shot with a scowl. "Violence loves me and my body hates it. That said, I do enjoy the occasional beating. Them, not me."

Addy shrugged, a coy smirk on her lips, "And here I was hoping you'd be up for me tying you to your headboard. Pity." She mused, adjusting her backpack with a wince. "In case you didn't notice though, my day-to-day doesn't seem complete without getting something broken. I think my ribs are actually cracked right now, come to think of it. So the feeling is well understood."

"Harrison took the headboard off my bed," Ezra said simply, though the sentence's end brought with it a knowing grin. He shrugged, letting his arms fall to either side. "Ceiling fan's awfully sturdy, though, so I may give that one a go."

Addy looked down at her hips, "Yeah, I don't wanna rip a hole in your ceiling... I'm kinda... Thick in places." She chuckled, "But, hey, I've always been up for a challenge where rigging is concerned." she winked.

Ezra raised an eyebrow, flipping his bag around and plunging one hand into the unzipped front pocket. "You're not one for subtlety, are you?" the weapon inquired, a light smirk playing at the edge of his mouth.

Addy pressed her thumb into her temple, working some of the pressure out of her head, "I've been told that a time or two. Still doesn't work nearly often enough. Two year dry spell." she muttered to herself, a bit annoyed at the entire concept.

"Dry like a jerky stick," Ezra mumbled, muffling a laugh at the thought. "Perhaps your issue is the fact that you try to hit on people who are presently loitering in death's doorway...or are, at the least, severely out of it. Maybe hopped up on DayQuil, who really knows?" He shrugged, wobbling a bit as he walked before returning to a tentative state of focus, offering only a crooked smile as a response.

Addy laughed, giving a slight wink, "It's the only thing keeping me standing, hotshot." she wrapped her arm through his, hoping that they'd wobble opposite directions and hopefully hold the other up during their weaker moments. "Besides, maybe you'll remember part of it and we can pick up where we left off. Hell, maybe even I'll remember it."

"Oh, I'll remember," he insisted, clipping the last word in his teeth to stifle the chuckle that attempted to leak through. Pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans, he scrolled between various tabs, mumbling to himself. "What class are you heading to?"

"Uhh... History, I think." she shrugged, "I don't pay much attention, and I was likely gonna sleep through it anyways. I'm putting my butt in a chair for attendance and that's the most I'm doing." Addy sighed, rolling her head back on her shoulders, "What about you?"

"Calculus," the weapon offered, the word dripping in loathing. "How I was conned into that class, I'll never know. It's work I know I'm good at, but still carry no desire to do. After that, ah...combat training. That's gonna be the tits in this condition, I'm sure."

Addy nodded, "I have that one too. Hopefully Stonebreaker will give us a break. I think she wanted meisters to do the drills today anyways."

"Gods, I can only hope," he sighed, rolling his head to one side to ease out a crick in his neck. He paused, eyeing the clock. "You going to make it to your class in one piece, short stack?"

Addy tossed up a thumbs up, giving an annoyed side-eye up at the weapon at his nick-name, "I should be fine. I get wailed on by your friends from lunch and I'll shoot you a text." she smirked, "Maybe you'll be able to actually land a hit on him this time."

"And maybe you won't need the bookworm to bail you out when you go picking fights with a walking natural disaster," Ezra retorted, his crooked grin flashing as he zipped his bag shut, slinging it back over one shoulder with a wince. "I do believe you made more of an impression on them than I did..."

Addy gave a look of mock confusion, "Walking natural disaster? I wasn't fighting you..." she teased, holding the door to the building for him, "And it's not an impression I'd like to leave again, believe me. See you next class?"

Ezra nodded, leaning in to pull her into a side-bodied hug. He offered as genuine of a hug as his body would allow, biting back the sharp lance of pain to his ribs. "Next class. Take it easy until then, yeah?"

Addy nodded, giving a sort of salute above her sunglasses, "Catch you later, Mr. Personality." she gave a slight wink behind her lenses, and headed off to class.

Ezra watched as she sauntered away, gaze following her until she rounded a corner and disappeared. Preoccupation blinded him to his surroundings until a clap on the shoulder roused him from his haze.

"Early morning, champ?" Harrison inquired, leaning against the cool metal of the lockers lining the wall. He had rolled the sleeves on his checkered red button-up to his elbows, arms folded over and tucked into one another. One brow was raised well above the other, eyes twinkling with a curious stare. Ezra called it his shit-eater look on account of the fact that Harrison only used it when he knew something that his brother wouldn't want him to know.

"You have no idea," the weapon grumbled, tipping his glasses back over his eyes.

"Oh, I have some idea," Harrison insisted, lips turning up into a smirk. "The hard of hearing would have had no difficulty listening to you stumble around at the crack of down, cursing all the while. It's good for you, though. Early bird catches the worm, as the saying goes."

"And the second mouse gets the cheese," the weapon snapped in return. "Shouldn't you be heading to Professor Crane's class? I know how she gets about her pets."

"I'm not a teacher's pet," the elder brother shot irritably, pushing off the locker to tighten the strap of his shoulder-bag. "I just happen to listen when my instructors talk and act accordingly."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever helps you sound less lame. You should hurry along. I hear she upgraded to the Fancy Feasts, so you don't want to miss feeding time."

"You're an ass," Harrison snapped, eyes glaring even as his lips split into a rueful grin. "See you in combat training."

"Catch you then," Ezra replied with his own grin, clapping the meister on one shoulder as they parted in opposite directions.

Avaline had earned the nickname, "ballbreaker" among some of her more unruly students. She had a personal knack for humbling the cocky and curbing the rebellious. Addy especially and her recklessness she took as a personal challenge. When the weapon all but stumbled into class looking like she had been hit by a truck, Avaline raised a brow, "Rough night, Arcane?"

Addy muttered, "Something like that, Stonebreaker." she sighed, taking off the sunglasses for a moment, "Look, any other day, I'd be up for giving you a hard time, but I whacked my head pretty good yesterday and I'd rather not get killed jumping through hula-hoops, so can we just call this one off for the night?"

Avaline looked her over. Dilated pupils, sunken in eyes... If it wasn't something potentially dangerous, she'd have made her get out onto the field, but given the aftermath of a concussion, Avaline sighed in resignation, "Fine, just this once, Arcane. Sit up front though, and pay attention."

Addy sunk down in relief on her chair, sliding her sunglasses back onto her face, and exhaling a soft groan.

Avaline stretched her arms across her chest, one at a time, as her other students came in. She counted them off, taking attendance in her head with her steely gray eyes. Beyril, Harrison, Marceline, Tien.... All here. Except...

"Mercer. Where's your brother?"

"Actively engaging in debauchery and misdemeanor-level anarchy, most likely," Harrison suggested, closing the book laid across his lap. He tucked the tome quietly into his bag, leaning to rest his elbows against the desk. "I would say that I'm joking, but I do know him well."

Avaline groaned, shoving a single stray auburn hair off of her forehead, "Fine. Harrison, you'll partner with me today, then. If he shows up, he can sit with Ms. Arcane."

Harrison straightened in his seat, brows raising over wide eyes. Murmurs rippled through the class, prompting a wave of heat to flood the meister's face as the implications settled in. Professor Stonebreaker had not taken on a partner since her divorce and had never partnered with a student. Though the details of the divorce were few and far between, her renown as a Death Scythe was a secret to no one. And I get to pair with her...

"Of course, ma'am," Harrison obliged, smoothing his tie habitually. Producing a thin metal clip from one pocket, the meister slid the tie bar into place.