Ok so another Pell/Avery smut like thing.
Oneshot: School Time Equals Nap Time
"Come on Avery!" Vivi called. Vivi, now ten, was being tutored by Pell. She'd convinced her father to have Pell also tutor Avery. Today they were supposed to have class with him in the library. Only problem was Avery was dragging her feet. Vivi knew why and if in Avery's place would want to drag her feet too.
Pell hadn't been to happy to have to tutor Avery. And because Avery was old he expected more out of her than Vivi. Yet Avery tries and he still mentions how everything she does is wrong. Or how it's close but she could have done better. He seems to forget that this is Avery's first time in any type of school thing. Having lived on the streets with only other homeless children made education one of the lowest priorities.
Avery loved and craved knowledge and she had learned so much from Pell in the two weeks that she'd been getting tutored by him with Vivi. But not once had he given her a compliment on her work. He would in subtle ways congratulate Vivi but not once her. Today was the day before their project was due. They had to draw a one tenth scale map of Alubarna. In the hour long class time Pell would speak for ten to twenty minutes about the history of the city then allow the girls to look though books about the architecture.
Vivi would stay after the class most days to keep her nose buried in a book. Avery left as soon as Pell allowed her to. Yesterday was no exception. She'd left immediately and was back by Vivi's side for diner and they stayed together until they went to her room for bed. What Vivi didn't know was that Avery hadn't been sleeping at night and that's why she'd been spacing out and even dozing in class.
Together they entered the large library. The book shelves were empty making the large cases look dark and foreboding. The staff was taking the books to be dusted and any that needed to be updated, updated. The dusty shelves caused Vivi to sneeze but soon enough the got to the back of the library. A large wooden wall had been put up and the ground raised for the class room. Avery opened the small wooden door and allowed Vivi to enter first. Vivi took her seat in the large desk and table in front of the one Avery would sit in.
Avery sat in the back most desk with Vivi right in front of her behind her was the top of the wooden ledge or solid railing and behind that the many empty book cases. She liked to sit there because most days Pell stayed upfront by Vivi and not looked to the back at her.
"I see you're both here again today." Pell said as he looked at a yawning Avery. "Tomorrow is when the maps are to be turned in so today is for studying. Please use this time wisely." Instructed he. Once Vivi and Avery sat down he left. Vivi immediately got to work on her map once again and took out the colored charcoal pencils. She was making the map not only as accurate as she could but coloring where the districts met and separated.
She'd just finished making the market district a deep red outline with a light red color inside and was working on making the palace district a blue color. She looked over at Avery to show her what she'd done, but Avery wasn't just spaced out or nodding off today. She was dead asleep. The wide desk had several papers on it and books open in an attempt to either work or make it look like she was working. The only thing that offset this charade was Avery's crossed arms that supported her head. The small dribble of drool falling from the orange haired girl's slightly agape mouth was another give away to her unconscious state.
Vivi sighed. If Avery wasn't go to take tutoring seriously then Pell would have a reason to kick her out. If she didn't at least attempt to work then Vivi's arrangement with her father would be off. Vivi had gotten her father to agree that if Avery did as she was asked and didn't misbehave she would be allowed to stay in the palace with Vivi. And she'd been asked to get a bit more educated. If Avery got caught slacking off like she was then Pell would get King Cobra, Vivi's father, to make Avery leave.
Vivi turned once more to wake Avery up but let out a small gasp. "What do you think you're doing!" Pell yelled at Avery. For a second she didn't respond but then awoke with a start. "You are supposed to be working on your map. If you don't take me and this seriously then don't bother coming tomorrow. You two are dismissed." Avery looked over her shoulder at Pell who stood on the opposite side of the wooden barrier, hoping that he would take back what he said. But he didn't he turned and walked off down an aisle.
Vivi didn't say anything and left too. She could finish coloring her districts in her room. Avery on the other hand took two folded pieced of paper out of one of her books. She'd almost finished. She'd drawn the entire city. Every street and building to perfect scale. And she only had one district left to walk through and make sure she'd gotten all of the streets and alley's. Didn't they see that she was taking this seriously? That as soon as he dismissed them she'd been walking until her feet bleed to get every detail to perfection, that nearly every night for the past week since he'd assigned the map that she'd been climbing to the top of the palace to see the entire city and get every street in perfect alignment to it's surrounding building and fellow streets?
Avery held her tears at bay but not her anger. Her small hands tore the map to shreds and left them on the ground. He had told her not to bother coming back anymore, what use of the stupid paper did she have now? Avery left the palace, her aching and sore feet begging not to be abused anymore. She made it all they way to the slums. Her district.
This is where she was supposedly born. Where she grew up. She'd went hungry here, bled here, cried here. Here was what she knew so well that she hadn't needed any map or book to find her way. The curving and twisting backstreets were her true home. Vivi may have tried to make Avery's home the palace with her, but this was the only place that would greedily accept Avery with open arms. It's never ending hunger to cause pain and strife for it's occupants was happy to welcome anyone.
Vivi was still in the palace and realized she'd left a color at the library. A necessary color, back for the slums. She raced to get her color and upon walking up the steps saw the paper that was torn and tossed onto the ground. She sighed and started to pick it up. She looked at it and recognized many of the places. Carefully she sat down and started top piece the shreds together like a little paper puzzle.
Pell had returned to the library hoping to find Avery. He had been a bit harsh to her, but it hurt his pride that she just dismissed his teachings like she had. Only he didn't find Avery he found Vivi crying. In front of her a torn paper that was messily put back together. Had Avery torn something of Vivi's? He questioned himself. "Vivi?" He asked aloud.
"She did her map, but it doesn't matter now!" She wailed. "She's going to be kicked out because she's not being taught anymore." Pell squatted by her side to see what she as referring to. On the torn shreds of paper was an intricate drawing of Alubarna. From what he could see everything had been done with such care that not a single stall or abandoned pile of wood was left out. "She always left after class, she went out into the city." Vivi cried.
Pell had indeed been wrong. Avery had taken his class seriously. She'd probably lost sleep working on this map, which would explain why the time meant to be used for studying the architecture was used for sleep instead. "Why wouldn't she be allowed to stay here, Vivi?" Pell finally asked.
"Because she's not allowed in your class anymore. And even if she was her project is ruined." Pell se t a large hand on Vivi's small head.
"When she comes back at diner I'll talk to her. I'll excuse her from this assignment because she'd obviously done it and much better than I had asked of her."
Talking to the young fifteen year old Avery didn't happen at diner. It would have helped if she had shown up of course. And when he went to Vivi's room around the time the girls laid down to sleep he was confused to find Avery curled up on Avery's bed clutching a pillow. Avery had not returned or been seen since his class time. He went to the small bedside table that was between the two girls' beds to blow out the light candle when he saw Avery's map. It was taped together horribly but Vivi had tried to fix it so that Avery might be able to turn it in.
Pell picked it up and looked at it for any clue as to where she might be. The most well done part were the slums. He'd expected that, she'd lived there after all. And looking over the slums he saw how each line was done with precision. And then at one part of it the slums there was a block that looked out of place with the rest of the map. It was so plane and ordinary looking that on any other map would have blended in without anyone the wise. But with how the lines everywhere else would intricately cross it gave away her spot. She wanted to keep attention away from where she'd lived and grown up.
It didn't take long for Pell to arrive at the place. He looked at the map in his hand and was sure that this was it. Avery's map was really well done and had lead him here much easier than any other map could have. But the place, it was abandoned for a long time. Near to every window was boarded up and the door itself was laid on the ground not far away and a board had been put up in it's place. Chunks of rock was missing and there were even holes in the walls that were hastily covered up with cloth.
Was he wrong? Had the only reason this place looked plane on the map because Avery had yet to do it? A scuttling sound came from the building in front of him. No rat was large enough to make that loud of a sound. Reaching forward Pell grabbed the board and pulled it away. Five or six kids rushed passed him and several more jumped from the unboarded window and two left from the cloth covered hole.
Avery couldn't be here. This place it was too- "Hello, Pell." Avery greeted Pell looked at her semi shocked. She had walked out while he was watching the kids scurry away. "It's late for you to be out looking for someone. You're normally in your room reading by this time."
"Come." He ordered.
Avery rolled her eyes and stepped out into the street. He eyes scanned the surrounding area. "He isn't going to hurt you guys. Go back inside and sleep." Kids of nearly every age oozed out from the shadows and with wary eyes trained on him re entered the building. "They have no families like me." Avery informed Pell when they were a good block or two away. "Dead parents or just abandoned. They don't know what else to do so many of the other kids help them find this place and David takes care of them. He's like our older brother. All of in there, we're a family, ya know."
"But you aren't related to any of them." Pell informed. "You aren't a family."
"A man and woman get maried and they're a family. Yet they have no blood ties."
"That's different."
"How? How is it so different from us? If anything we are more of a family. We rely on each other for survival. Any of us older kids give what we get to the younger ones even if we need it. A man and woman they don't rely on each other like that. They do what they want how they want not worry about the other."
"Because they are adults and they don't need to worry about the other, Avery. They are grown up enough to take care of themselves." Pell wasn't so sure in his words.
"And in that is their mistake. By not needing to worry about the other or caring to worry a steak can be driven between them, tearing them apart. A family isn't supposed to be able to be destroyed with a few words or accusations. We trust each other and love each other enough that even though some of us are old enough to take care of ourselves, we still have others that care enough to look out for us, watch our back even though we don't need it watched."
"I except to see you in class tomorrow." Pell said and handed her the map over. He'd learned a little about her today and realized that he'd been way to harsh. She'd never had any education before this and she was doing better than Vivi though not as good as other fifteen year old's would. She actually excelled at her studies if he added the fact she'd never had any education at all. He had expected her to return to the boarded up place but she followed him still. "How did you learn to read and write?"
"David. He teaches us everything we need to know. Health, reading and writing. Pick pocketing." She snuck a glance at Pell to see what his reaction would be. He just nodded. Though it was the same as stealing for them kids to survive it was necessary.
"Does this David have a last name?"
"No. None of us do. We don't have any parents to take the name of and those that do still have living parents, well why would they want their name?"
They reached the palace doors by now. Pell stopped and looked down at Avery. "Don't fall asleep in my class again." He said though he knew that it was useless. Any projects he gave them she would go beyond to complete and make perfect loosing her sleep and only retrieving it in his class. They parted ways there. Him going to his room to read, her to Vivi's room to get another piece of paper so that she could redraw the map, and afterwords skipping on sleeping again to go walk about the marketing district and make sure that her map was perfect and finished.
She'd be asleep in his class again tomorrow.