Re: Everyday Heroes

[Ava Brooks]

“I have never known an adult to live like this. Even the ones in my guild are very clean. And they’re hardly home. This is not a home… this is a garbage bin…” she said under her breath. She spoke loudly enough she knew Kensie could hear her, but not louder. She didn’t want to insult the awful Mrs. Crone, but she didn’t want to keep her opinions to herself. Generally she was better about this, but today was strange. It had started out fine, and now she was being bossed around and insulted as if this woman was entitled because Ava and Kensie had so seriously wronged her for agreeing to help. It was enraging.

Ava laughed a little bit at Kensie’s behavior with the mess. She really didn’t seem to want to get messy. Ava didn’t either. She might have acted just the same, but seeing Kensie do it first she saw how childish it appeared. She swore not to act that bad. “But if we become adults with a mess, we can just get kids to clean for us, and then insult them for it.”

Kensie was re-stacking things for Ava to organize. “She may not have enough space for all these things. She should probably get rid of some of it, but we can’t expect that… Just… stack it against the walls in an orderly fashion if we run out of space,” she said. “I wish Rolland were here, he is good with fussy people…” she sighed. He would know what to do, and he would do it well.

[Kensie Barnett]

Kensie and Ava were definitely on the same page about both Mrs. Crone and her messiness. She hated being bossed around. She could be a good girl, but she was usually the one that did the bossing, even if it were behind the scenes. She had a way with people. But those people had to qualify as people.  She made another face as she scooted what appeared to be an undergarment from her pile to the correct spot with her foot. “I’m starting to rethink my life…” Kensie told Ava as she scooted more things to a wall.

Kensie only giggled when Ava joked about getting to be mean adults as well one day. She vowed never to be horrible.  Not if she could help it. She heard Ava wish Rolland were there. “Maybe one day I can meet him?” the ebon-haired girl suggested. She intended to at least try and become pen pals with Ava after this. She was fun and reasonably close to Kensie’s age. She just hadn’t mentioned it yet. She intended to surprise Ava.

Mrs. Crone wheeled back in, a frown on her face. That said, a frown was her natural look by now. She probably would have looked like an old bulldog if she were smiling.  She looked at what Ava was doing and opened her mouth, but closed it again. “Put the dirty clothing in the laundry room,” she told Kensie instead. “When you girls are finished, I have something in the kitchen, since you don’t seem to be dissuadable anyway.” With that, she wheeled back to the kitchen without another word.

Kensie raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t missed that. Had the book had such a profound effect on her? If so… why had she lost it so easily? “Did… she just change her mind about barking more orders at us?” Kensie asked, looking confused. They’d had a few orders given just now, but her wording, though still bitter-ish, had definitely been less evil. She hoisted the disgusting laundry and walked it to the laundry room quietly, trying to puzzle out Mrs. Crone's game.

[Ava Brooks]

How many pages could one be on about a creature, er, woman like Mrs. Crone? They could certainly not love her. Hate or fear? Were those the options? Ava did not fear her. She had no actual power over Ava. She only got to boss her around because Ava allowed it, to help Kensie. She vowed to be pickier with her jobs. Sure, she shouldn’t be “above” them, but she could only take jobs where she felt she could properly represent her guild. If she took a job she failed, or worse, walked away from, that would not represent her or her guild well at all.

“That can be good sometimes,” Ava told Kensie, about rethinking her life. Ava certainly had, before now though. She had no idea of Kensie’s pen pal plans. That was… different. She wrote to Rolland of course, but she didn’t really go around making acquaintances with strangers. “Meet Rolland? I don’t get to visit him often, and he doesn’t have the time to come out and visit me… why would you want to meet him?” It really didn’t make sense for Kensie to want to meet Rolland. He was lovely, of course, but she and Kensie weren’t friends. They hardly knew each other. Camaraderie or not, it confused her.

Mrs. Crone returned and Ava wished she wouldn’t. Apparently dirty clothing went in the laundry room. It wasn’t as if they’d really gotten a tour. “Alright,” she said simply. Then she said… something about the kitchen? What? Well that was weird. Kensie noticed it too, commenting. “I really don’t know. It seems like she at least tired of it…” Kensie left with the laundry and Ava continued cleaning at an increased speed. She would get a lot done before Kensie came back. She was confused by the girl, but at least she wanted to help a lot.

[Kensie Barnett]

“I just thought we were getting along and stuff. It might be fun to be friends and stuff?” Kensie told Ava with a shrug. She didn’t know how to treat girls close to her age. Everyone in her life was older. Maybe girls her age didn’t make friends with other people as quickly as older people made room for a kid who wanted attention. She wasn’t sure. Kensie usually made friends quickly when she made friends. She supposed it shouldn’t be a big deal anyway. They barely knew each other. She was thankful for Ava’s presence though.

As the pair wandered into the kitchen where the evil old woman sat, book in hand, she seemed to be a different person, at least temporarily. Kensie had half expected the book to be thrown at her when she entered, but instead they were met with a “Do you know what this book is?” Mrs. Crone sat it on the table. “Of course not, you’re far too young.” There was another pause, but Kensie had only shook her head in agreement and stood semi-frozen, a look of pure confusion on her face. “This was a book by one of the greatest poets who has ever lived. My husband managed to get a copy of his book, which is over a hundred years old. It’s only useable now because of a spell a wizard put on it.”

Kensie shot a look at Ava, whispering under her breath. “Did we do something… good… accidentally?” she asked, far too quietly for an old woman to hear her. She kept looking at the book. It didn’t look like anything special, just old.

“It was the last present he gave me. I had thought it gone in this mess.” She shook her head. She never smiled, but she did seem to be less monsterous at the moment.

“I’m um… glad we could help?” Kensie piped up, still sounding confused. So it looked like they had stumbled upon the one thing that might save them from the nightmare of Mrs. Crone’s wrath. Kensie was glad she’d handed it to Ava. It had erased just about anything else beforehand, or so it seemed.

[Ava Brooks]

It might be fun to be friends? Ava arched an eyebrow. “Whether it is fun or not to become friends, you do not simply slap a title on someone and pretend there is a relationship there,” Ava informed her. Her tone was not critical, though she supposed her words came off as less than accepting. She didn’t have some big mantra about relationships, but she knew that they didn’t just form because people wanted them to. It helped, but saying it didn’t make it true. This didn’t mean she had an actual problem with Kensie though, fortunately.

The girls had to walk into the kitchen, and there Mrs. Crone was being… sentimental? Well, she’d been married once, not a surprise. Mrs. Sort of indicated that. Ava did like poetry, and books. The idea of a lover giving someone a special book of poetry. It was undeniably romantic. Kensie felt the need to ruin the moment with a question. Ava gave her a small nod without answering. Yes, they did something good. They did a lot of good, but apparently one of those things actually made any sort of a difference.

“Well, I’m glad it is safe. Now you can continue to cherish it,” Ava told Mrs. Crone calmly. She didn’t think much needed to be said. The woman still hated them, but at least she had something she liked. It did not make Ava more fond of this woman though. She just wanted to clean and leave.

5207/500

[Kensie Barnett]

Kensie couldn't help but pout a bit at the friends statement Ava felt the need to inform her on. She knew it was her fault for assuming, but to her, friends were easy to make if you really wanted to. She didn't usually make friends, mind you, but she figured they would be easy to make if she really tried. This was one of the only girls she'd met in recent times that was actually near her age, and she'd gotten rather excited. Fortunately for Ava, Kensie had been distracted from these thoughts by Mrs. Crone as she jabbered about her wonderful little book.

Now that that was over though, she was far too engrossed in her precious paper gem to do anything mean to the girls, and it was easy to do more cleaning and whatever else was laid out for them. By the time the real caretaker came back, even Kensie had done more than her share of work, however slowly. "I'm impressed, girls," she told them as she handed Kensie the money. Kensie gladly handed over her share as they walked out the door, contrary to her earlier show of disappointment. It was obvious she was down about the not being friends thing again though. "Have fun visiting Rolland," she told Ava with a slight polite curtsy. She turned to leave quietly so that Ava could go on her way. "Sorry to waste your day and stuff."

[Ava Brooks]

It was understandable to be a bit, or a lot, put off by Ava’s statement. She was a very polite girl most of the time, but she was under no obligation to have the tact of a fancy setting. She could be a bit blunt with people she did not know or respect. No, this just dug a hole worse and worse. Ava did not find making friends easy. She found it difficult. Either they did not understand her, or she did not understand them, or they did not like each other. Ava admittedly rubbed people the wrong way, like a spoiled rich girl. They rubbed her the wrong way, by assuming she couldn’t have depth or work hard because her parents had not required it of her growing up. It remained a complicated situation.

The cleaning was drastically easier without Mrs. Crone’s watching. However Ava realized she had been too thoughtless with her response earlier. She took her share of the money and curtsied back to Kensie when she said to have fun. “Oh, thank you,” she said. The last comment was frustrating. Not because of Kensie, exactly. It was just an unfortunate thing that she thought that. Ava let out a small groan, “Kensie… if… you would like. I exchange letters with this area frequently. I could write to you? Or you to me. Ava Brooks, Lamia Scale. It will find me. And you did not waste my day. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

She did not feel an obligation to become friends with anyone. She had no obligation to be nice or cordial or any such thing. However she was human, and much as she could make mistakes, she had no intention of hurting the other girl’s feelings. Hopefully this would help at least. She could potentially become friends with Kensie. What could be so wrong with a girl who at least cared enough to be hurt at the offhand rejection?


5533/500

[Kensie Barnett]

Kensie Grinned at Ava nearly from ear to ear when she suggested being pen pals. "I've never had a pen pal before!" she bounced a little, her short dress only slightly catching in the wind as she did so. Ava had said just the right thing as Kensie had turned around. That much was pretty obvious. "Kensie Barnett from Fairy Tail," she reminded Ava, pretty sure she already knew that much anyway. She did another little curtsy to Ava as she turned back around to leave once more, so as not to waste Ava's time now that they were free. She waved, keeping her torso twisted as she walked away so that she would still see Ava.

"It wasn't exactly fun, but I think I would have died in that house without you," she admitted, "Anyway, I promise I'll write you soon!" with that, she decided to make her way back. She had a dorm room to pay for so she didn't get sent back to her parents' house. She actually felt grown up a little for once, since she'd taken care of her own rent with her own money. "Thank you Ava," she muttered, eyes glittering as she walked into the sunset. She needed to get some stationary!

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