The New Guy (Avia)

[excervantez]

His fingers strummed over the stacks of papers that had slowly been collecting on the desk in front of him, playing a random tune that changed every few seconds. It happened unconsciously, probably Luz’s way to drown out the noise of the droning music he’d been forced to listen to everyday that he’d been working here. It was free form jazz, a type of music he just couldn’t wrap his head around; it kept him on edge. He felt like he was being played this on purpose. Rumor was, the office didn’t have built-in speakers that played “work-music,” before he’d gotten the job. It just didn’t make sense. In fact, nothing here made sense. First of all, why’d they give the most athletic person on the team a desk job, especially one as pointless as keeping track of records? United didn’t pay for anything anymore, they owned the city. So aside from a few cases with foreign affairs, his job mostly consisted of stacking papers, copying documents and sitting. The higher-ups seemed to realize this from the start. Because of this, his days mostly consisted of, “Hey, since you’re not doing anything, could you run something down the hall for me?”

Almost on cue, a red light began flashing on the phone to his left, and when he pushed the button a dull voice repeated the words he’d just said in his head exactly. Sounded like a girl. He’d never heard her voice before, but apparently everyone had heard about the new errand boy.

“What this time?” He tried to sound as excited as he could, but it still came off fake.

“The Commissioner’s supposed to be planning a Police Dinner in a couple of days and they just messaged me with a bunch of numbers to call in order to make arrangements. I’m on the phone with one of them right now and they need to know how many guests he plans to have show up.”

“Why not just put them on hold and call him?”

“Yeah, I tried that. Didn’t answer. That’s why I need you to find him and tell him to call management, or at least ask him yourself and call me when you find out.”

Luz asked why she couldn’t go up and ask him herself. The answer was predictable. “I’m really busy.” He doubted it, but he didn’t have anything else to do, so why not? A break from the music would be nice, and at least he wasn't carrying five cups of coffee to five different floors again. He’d never been to the commissioner’s floor before, maybe they gave out free food. As always, his stomach was on the verge of eating itself.

[avia]

Avia felt normal whenever she entered the Complex. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. Outside, especially at school, everyone was against her. The Reavers wanted to use her. The kids at school just didn’t like her. That was likely her own problem. Inside the Complex, the United workers deferred to her as the Commissioner’s daughter. Everyone knew how much her father cherished her. She felt like she could be who she was without consequence. It was almost ironic that the only place she felt comfortable to be outside her home she was secretly planning to destroy.

She sighed and pushed open the stair doors, heading up to her father’s office. She had cleaned up, after getting in a fight earlier that day. Avia had put on a pair of tight denim shorts and a bright pink tube top under a cream cardigan that was slightly overlarge. Her clean flats scuffed quietly on the steps as climbed upwards. She winced occasionally. Her ankle hurt from the fight. She won, though. That was all that mattered. Avia pulled a small snack cake out of the pocket in her sweater and carefully unwrapped it as she ascended. At the next floor, she turned left and headed out into the hallway. The officers out there all looked at her, and then looked away.

No one bothered her. Everyone knew who she was, of course. Whenever a new cop came in, they would try to stop and question her about being in the hall. If she felt kind enough not to ignore them, she would pull out her student id and show them that she was vastly more important than they were before heading on down to where she wanted to go. Today wasn’t one of those days. She reached her father’s office undisturbed. But it was empty. Avia sighed with a pouted lip and went inside. He must be off doing something with his officers, she decided. She’d hang out until he came back. The blonde teenager hopped into his comfy office chair and swung around so that she could see outside, all the while nibbling on a processed chocolate cupcake. Her metabolism could take it. Avia spun around in the chair a few times, hoping her father would come in soon. She didn’t want to spend all afternoon bored in office.

…Well, maybe not bored… she mused, stopping the chair mid-twirl. Avia had spotted case files on her father’s desk. Not just any case files, but Red Hood case files. “Ooooooh…” she cooed happily and took the stack to read.

The Police thought the Red Hood was a man, although she saw her father had occasionally written notes in the margins suggesting Red Hood was a girl. There were also orders that he wanted the Hood as alive as possible, so they could be questioned. In other words, the United wanted to have fun with her first.

Ouch. Avia made a note to herself to never, ever get caught.

[excervantez]

After debating whether or not to bring his suit jacket, he pushed up the sleeves of his white button-up and headed off to the stairs without it. Elevators were never his thing; stairs weren’t so big of a deal that he got tired going up or down a few floors, and it was usually faster than the elevator, not to mention how whenever he was on he seemed to be trapped into having a conversation with someone intent on giving him more stuff to do. Pretty ironic that one of the most talkative people around was being forced to avoid people. As he entered the stairs it almost sounded like he’d heard someone walking above him. That was rare, with all the lazy people he’d came to know here. After his gray converse began adding to the noise he wondered if it was just a strange echo.

Reaching the floor he was a little disappointed when he didn’t see someone handing out free hot dogs. It all started out as a joke, but after he’d spent five minutes daydreaming about food he began to desperately hope it would be a reality. In the real world, he didn’t even see a vending machine. Luz sighed. He had no idea where the Commissioner’s office was. After walking to one end of the hall and reaching a corner, he gave up and politely asked the guy in the cubicle behind him for directions.

“Yeah, he’s that way,” the man said, pointing in the direction he’d just came. “And since you’re going that way, can you drop these files off to Liz?”

”Sure!” . . . whoever the heck that was.

With no thank you, he left. Apparently Elizabeth Morrow’s--aka Liz’s--office was on the opposite side of the building. After giving her the interestingly heavy stack of papers he asked for more directions. The commissioner’s office was right around the corner. Luz nodded and left as quickly as he could, hoping he didn’t run into anyone else along the way. Avoiding errands to run an errand. He laughed, a little pathetically.

He opened the door without knocking, a bad habit of his. “Hey, uh, Mr Commissioner?” According to what he was told before, the man wasn’t in his office, so without really caring to look, Luz was already on his way out, ready to begin his game of hide-and-seek. His body had been moving faster than his brain, so in his head when he realized that he’d seen a blonde girl sitting in his chair he did a double take.

“Oh . . . hi.” The words came out instinctively, the same way a kid makes up an excuse when they know they’re in trouble. Only afterward was he actually paying attention to what he was looking at. Luz’s eyes rested on the cupcake before seeing on the girl again.

[avia]

Avia snapped the folder down and back onto the desk where she had found it the second she heard someone approaching. Not that she would get in trouble per say, but it was always nice to not be fiddling around with the things on her father’s desk. However, it was almost a pleasant surprise when she saw that it was neither officer nor father who entered the room.

It was a boy.

“Hi…” she replied with a similar tone. “The Commissioner’s not here. I’m not sure where he is. Can I help you?” she asked, veiling her identity even though it was completely unnecessary. It wasn’t like it wasn’t completely obvious that she was in some way related to the Commissioner. She may have blonde hair against his… lack thereof, but she looked just like him. Even if that was not enough of a hint, she was sitting in his office. In his chair. And she was a teenager. Duh.

Avia decided he must work here, so she figured it was best if she were polite. So she smiled. It didn’t hurt that he was kind of cute, she reasoned. Maybe, if she were lucky, he wasn’t also a student and thus well knowledgeable about just how everyone felt about her outside of the school. That would be a bummer, because then he would be mean to her like them. Only, he would do it when her father wasn’t looking. The Complex would become just as dangerous as everywhere else in this city. Avia fought the urge to frown when these forbidding images began to play through her mind.

Okay, maybe she would rather it had been her father or another officer who had shown up.

[excervantez]

He hadn’t found what he was looking for, but the two things in its place weren’t a bad substitute.

Luz had actually said hi to the cupcake (the first of the “two things”); when the girl began speaking his head jerked up. Ah, she was pretty. That didn’t take long to see. It felt a little weird thinking that way since she looked alot like the Commissioner. He’d only seen the man once, but that’s all it took for him to remember a face. No doubt that she was his daughter. If not, some other close relative. Still, even if she was, she probably wasn’t allowed in his office. But what was the worst she could do? He doubted she’d get in too much trouble even if she was caught reading whatever she’d quickly covered when he entered the room.

She didn’t know where her father was. But could she help him? Maybe.

“Where’d you get that cupcake?” Without being asked, Luz took a seat on the other side of the desk. He had nothing better to do, after coming all this way; he definitely didn’t feel like listening to freeform jazz again. “I’m Luz, by the way.”

[avia]

“Seriously?” she asked, giving him a dubious look. She noticed, however, his complete attention was on her hand and her snack cake. She shifted it, and his eyes followed. Well… least it wasn’t her chest… Avia sighed and folded the plastic back over the cake and tossed it across the desk at him. “Here,” she said and sat back in the comfy chair. She swung her legs up and put her feet up on the edge of her father’s desk. “Name’s Avia. Do they not feed you?” she asked as she watched him devour the cupcake.

Indeed, it was quite a display. Then again, he was about her age, so most likely he was going through some kind of crazy pubescent growth spurt. Her father said he could always tell when she was growing, because there was never anything in his cupboards and she was usually laying on him begging for ice cream. Oooh, ice cream… maybe he’d buy her some.

[excervantez]

“Thank you, very much.” The words barely had time to come out before the food was stuffed in. He should’ve been ashamed coming of a like a ravenous beast to a stranger, but after rolling her eyes the girl seemed to give him a knowing look, like she understood where he was coming from. At least little bit.

“Of course they don’t feed me; people tend to be a little stingy towards new people around here. Stingy in general, if you ask me.” Yet another reason for him to question why he was working here. At first things with the United felt right, they were in charge, rulers over the city. The strange thing was that all these circumstances seemed similar, a form of the same abuse of power that drove his family to this planet in he first place. Should rulers be in charge if they’re not taking care of their people, not to mention attacking the helpless and innocent? Thoughts of what his parents always said about Blackfire and his home world filled his head before he realized he’d started staring off into space mid-sentence. “--But I’m pretty good at feeding myself! I’m in the process of getting a stove installed in my office next week,” he continued, jokingly, knowing he wouldn’t be opposing if that actually were to happen.

“. . . But really, where’d you get that? Do you think they have more?” he asked before he licked his lips, slowly tasting the leftover icing. A little too slowly for it to seem as innocent as it was. Despite having more access to food than ever before, he really had become a ravenous beast since he came here, hadn’t he? Thank the sun for his excessive metabolism.

Thinking over his words, it sounded like he was stalling. He tried telling himself that he was actually buying up time until the girl’s father to came back rather than admit that he was a desperate for entertainment. And of course, it helped that Avia was pretty in an edgy sort of way. Luz was too positive to take her wisecracking offensively.

[avia]

Avia leaned casually to her side as she watched him devour the snack cake with almost imprudent gusto. She propped her head up on her fingers and smirked at him as he joked around about installing a stove, but she was paying more attention to him than what he was saying. He was just babbling. She’d been around too many people to not know what rambling sounded like. Especially when The Untied was concerned. They did it all the time as a job qualification.

He wasn’t bad looking. He didn’t look like he fit in here. He wasn’t United material. What was he doing here? She scanned what she could see of him up and down curiously. He was pretty nice looking, she mused. Avia smiled at him in a less sinister kind of way the next time she caught his eye and relaxed a little. He was not a threat. While this meant in no way that she would let her guard down, it did mean that she would let herself have a little fun. He asked her for more and Avia laughed softly. “I can show you,” she offered. Avia got up and moved around the desk in a casual grace only years of practice could produce and leaned close to his ear, “but it’s a secret place. Can you keep a secret?” she wondered of his in a gentle whisper. It was coy, cunning, and a chance to run her fingers over the back of his neck and touch him. It was a chance to play with him. Her father was off being a Commissioner, so she had time to spare.

[excervantez]

Just as he expected, Avia may have been trying to hold up a tough exterior, but she came around eventually. He could tell she was enjoying herself as she slithered around to his side of the desk, seductively inviting his eyes to take it all in: hair fluttering and bobbing in an invisible breeze, the perfect set of footsteps to push every curve. She knew what she was doing, and she'd done this all before.This was definitely round one of what would probably be a series of playful mind games, a game played at his expense. He wen’t along with it anyway.

Luz’s voice dropped down two octave’s into “sexy mode”, “A secret huh?” The closer Avia got, the softer he began to speak, a whisper fitting to accompany a secret. ”I dunno . . . I’m pretty sure you can already tell I’m a pretty talkative guy. Holding secrets was never my thing” He pulled her closer, running a curious hand slowly up her side. He was determined to even the playing field. ”But since you asked so nicely, I could put in a little more effort. Got anything to covince me?” It was rare to be a guy playing hard to get, but if this kept up for too long he knew he’d be tripping over himself eventually.

[avia]

Avia looked down at his hand as it trailed its way up her side with some consideration. Should she let him continue to touch her… Avia looked up at met his eyes, a small, coy smile crossing her lips. She pushed his hand off of her after she felt he had had enough ground in their little game and stepped away from him. “If you tell everyone, you won’t get any for yourself,” she replied, the double meaning thick in her words. She smirked at him as she crossed the office in a few strides. She wanted to play this game with him, but she wanted to do so quietly. The entire world did not need to know who she fooled around with. If they did, her father would probably have kittens.

Avia stepped out into the hall, not even looking back to see if he followed her. She didn’t need to. Whether he followed her for food or for another reason, she knew he would follow. Avia took him back to the stairs and all the way down, down, to the basement level. This was where records were kept. One day, the Red Hood will break in and steal from these records. But today, Avia walked in with the new bookkeeper close behind her. The records were to the left, but on the right was the small closet of a break room used by the records keepers. She went in there, where it was quiet and empty. No one was on break just yet. Avia turned to Luz, leaning back against the counter, and grinned. She reached up and behind her and pulled open the cabinet.

The records keepers each had a pronounced sweet tooth, and the cabinet betrayed a variety of sugary delicious things.

[excervantez]

He’d been touching her without actually looking in her direction. When he heard Avia’s footsteps trail out the door there was no question he would follow. Sure, she could’ve been leading him into a trap, but just sitting here and letting her walk away, that would be crazy. Not to mention rude. Thinking of traps, his mind began relating their game to war terms. Though peaceful, Tamaranians were raised on war--as his parents had said--so using it as a metaphor was only natural: Avia attacked, he countered, she evaded, then . . . retreated. And now, he was in hot pursuit. Luz had never understood it before, but he was beginning to understand the age-old tendency of equating love with war. Haha! I’m a genius. He smiled to himself, proud of finally learning a life lesson.

Even though his brain was running a mile a minute, he still wasn’t unable to ignore his natural instincts. Avia’s walking was getting to him in ways that almost made him forget about his starving body and begin focusing on a different kind of hunger. To the point where he didn’t know which he wanted more. It was all slowly eating away at him . . . But after using the word “eating” in his thoughts he decided that for now his brain was focused on food.

They both arrived at the break room, a room he’d never actually bothered to enter before. Luz began hitting himself in his head mentally when he realized this was obviously where the vending machine was. On the floors below, the employees didn’t have a break room; everyone pretty much ate and slept at their desks in their mini-van-sized spaces that were actually alot more like cubicles with a ceiling. But the higher-ups, with their fancy offices, exquisite wall hangings, conveniently placed bathrooms and break rooms probably didn’t want to clutter up their atmosphere with a large, humming, fluorescent lit monstrosity. Their chips probably weren’t stale either . . .

Avia led the boy to an ordinary-looking cabinet. As she perched on the counter like the kitten she most definitely was, Luz found himself torn between his two most powerful urges yet again. The cabinet was filled to the brim with edibles, brands and flavors that he’d never even seen before. His eyes sported a subtly unnatural glow yet again as he was filled with excitement and jealous angst at the same time; he wondered why the people with the most money were getting more free stuff. That didn’t make much sense at all.

Never taking an eye off Avia, who was smirking at him devilishly the whole time, Luz curiously opened to rest of the cabinets taking a bag of chips from each one. He would definitely be making a second trip. “Wow. Looks like you’ve brought me to a gold mine. How ever shall I repay you?” It was an honest question, but the gleam in his eyes paired with the natural high he got from his overreactive hormones fueled his words with innuendo yet again as he stared his new accomplice up and down.

[avia]

The longer Avia worked underneath the Red Hood, the more and more she changed. Her gait became stronger, more self aware, and assured. Her poise was always ready, no matter where she was, and she was confident. She knew exactly what she was doing. She became calculated and coy. Down the road, this would save her life. When she would be forced to shirk her mask and reveal herself, Avia would be saved by what she learned while still hiding behind it. In the meantime, her newfound confidence demonstrated itself in her social life. She got in to more fights, but was now learning to win them without having to throw as many punches. She was figuring out how to shape a reputation, both as Avia and the Red Hood, to prevent having to waste the energy on battle. She could redirect, mislead, and get around it. She could intimidate. Avia was figuring out where to place her effort and where to let effortless actions guide her and her surroundings.

Such as something so simple as walking. She didn’t have to strut or prance to earn attention. All she had to do was walk. She didn’t even need to talk. Or look back at him the whole way there. The simple fact that she knew he was following without any question was enough. If she looked back and seemed unsure, it would send the wrong signal. So she didn’t. Not until she turned to face him in the breakroom and give him a good view. After all, she wore shorts and a tight tubetop that gave away just how much time she spent working out to keep herself in fit shape. The handy thing about female musculature was the fact it tended to underplay them. She was strong, but to compare her to a man of equal skill would be amusing. He would look out of proportion. She looked normal. She didn’t look as strong as she really was. As Avia leaned back against the counter, her cardigan fell loosely at her sides and hung casually on her shoulders. It was a modest cover that belied what was hidden beneath it.

Avia watched him inspect every cabinet and revel in the bounty. She would have to warn him not to take too much; otherwise he would lose the privilege. Record keepers protected their food similarly to how they protected their records. She smirked at Luz when he turned his attention back to her and remarked on the goldmine. “Just… treat it respectfully. Don’t take it for granted…” she replied in an offhand manner and looked down to pick at a piece of fray on the bottom hem of her shorts. “You know how fickle these things can be.” Her remark was noted with a nod towards the door, indicating that the arrangement between break room and interlopers wouldn’t last forever if he wasn’t careful about his visitations. But the double entendre was still on purpose.

[excervantez]

The bags were all snack size. With bags of potato chips always being filled a third of the way with air, the contents was a little disappointing. Two handfuls in the bag was already mostly empty. Before finishing it off he paused.

“Just . . . treat it respectfully.”

Ah, right.[/i][/color] Though Luz was always eager to share his spoils, he had never been good with modesty. His greedy side was beginning to show. He nodded, coyly in response to Avia’s words. He was only left with two bags now, nothing to be too suspicious of; he could just say that he bought them. This would be enough to survive him until his work day was over. He still had the cafeteria downstairs to raid of food as well.

“Right. But to be honest, I don’t know when I’ll ever have a change to come here again. Best to make it last right?” Luz sighed, barely needing to stress the words' figurative tense at all anymore. “It was fun while it lasted.” He stared down the same hallway that she’d just recently gestured him toward.

This time he left first, content with being able to hear her footsteps behind his own. He was leading them back to the office, curious to wether or not the Commissioner was back yet. “I really hope your dad comes back soon,” it was the first time he’d acknowledged Avia of being the man’s daughter. “I was supposed to be telling him to call management; if you see him could you tell him i said that? By the way, have you heard about this stupid Police Dinner they’re having? Picture that. I mean, really? They’re probably gonna have a punch bowl full of coffee and nothing but donuts to eat.” He laughed . . . a little too hard. “That actually doesn’t sound too bad!”

[avia]

She sighed when he left the room and rolled her eyes skyward as if salvation lay on the ceiling. She had wanted him to hang out a bit longer. She knew the record keepers were busy for at least another half an hour. They could have been left in peace for that time. Oh well. Avia heaved herself off of the counter and walked calmly after him. It was by pure virtue of her long legs, and not any hurry on her part, that she eventually caught up with Luz to walk at his side, even a little ahead of him. She didn’t like following. Unconsciously, she often took the lead. She entered her father’s office first as he made the request she pass a message along.

Instead of saying anything to that, she crossed the room to a large board in the far corner. It was covered in notes, theories, and scribbles in several hands. Avia picked a pink marker from the bin next to the board and wrote her father a note, asking him to please call management. The pink seemed to be exclusively hers, because only her handwriting was written in pink. She glanced over her shoulder when he mentioned the Police Dinner and her demeanor changed. Avia’s eyes narrowed and she turned to him as she heard his commentary. Snapping her marker shut with a definitive click, the young woman crossed her arms. “You mean the party my father puts together for the morale of his officers?” she asked with just a thin layer of ice that needed to be scraped off. “Daddy’s taking me to get my dress tomorrow, actually,” she confirmed his suspicions that she was the Commissioner’s child as well as revealed she was less than amused with his sarcasm towards the dinner. She didn’t like going. They were boring, so far as she was concerned. But that wasn’t going to stop her from defending her father’s parties to others. The officers had fun, and that was her father’s intent. She didn’t personally care if any United members enjoyed themselves.