averywhittaker

[averywhittaker]

Avery sped through the college, head down and hands shoved in her pockets. She wasn’t a student. She’d tried that and flunked out after her mental health got bad. She was only here, in fact, because her father had insisted she talk to someone about transferring. She couldn’t make him understand that she didn’t want to transfer and that she just wanted to be a college failure in peace, thank you very much. She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered the person in front of her dropping his belongings in a seeming huff. She only began register that he was there when he spoke to her. Avery’s mind went blank as her brain struggled to process what he had asked for. A lighter. Did she have a lighter. Oh! “Yes.” she said. Her heart sped up as she spoke as though it suddenly remembered she needed blood and oxygen to function as a human, “I do, yes.” she reached in her bag and dug for the black Bic she carried with her, “It’s almost empty but you’re welcome to use it.” she held it out for him with a little, shaky smile, “Hard day?” she asked glancing down at the binders on the ground.

Despite making more of an effort to pay attention to his studies over the past eight months, this level of work was something he was unfamiliar with. Having coasted through his first two years, in an attempt to actually gain some traction, he had finally asked his lecturers for a list of assignments he had pointedly never handed in. Apparently there were a lot of them. Carrying two binders filled with loose sheets of paper, he was struggling to pull a cigarette from his pocket as he exited the college building. When he had one firmly between his teeth, he begrudgingly began the struggle of searching for his lighter. With nowhere to place his binders, he rolled his eyes and let out a huff of breath, dropping them to the floor with little worry as to where and how they might land. He never had been one to think things through, especially in times of frustration. He removed the cigarette from his lips, looking up at the person walking by. Aware that he must look at least a little flustered given how overwhelmed he was feeling. “Hey- I’m sorry, you don’t have a lighter, do you?” 

[averywhittaker]

hxlfxz·:

“I mean, it was chill. But I dunno. I get lonely.” He looked over at her with a shrug. “I dunno. What do you wanna do to distract me?” Halstead was easily distracted. Get him going and he’d completely forget whatever the issue at hand was.

Avery shrugged. Distracting wasn’t something she was particularly good at but she liked trying anyway especially when she could tell someone needed it, “Maybe we could see if something’s playing at The Unicorn Gardens?* Or we could check out the zine library at that one coffee place? Or there’s an arcade in Kennesaw that has a bunch of old machines and retro games. We could try that?” She spoke slowly while she suggested them, giving herself time between each suggestion to think of another one to add.

LET IT SNOW | HALVRY

[averywhittaker]

Avery was in such a fog from her own depression that she barely processed what Hal had said. Her eyebrows furrowed a little while she tried to decode it. “Seasonal depression sucks. So does hanging out with your ex.” she said, voice soft as ever, “Maybe we can distract you? Sometimes that helps me?”

LET IT SNOW | HALVRY

“Yo, I can’t get high since I got this job. It is killin’ this seasonal depression shit. Like, I wanna enjoy shit but my brain is stupid and I can’t. Not as bad as when I was a kid in the north. So I also hung out with Matt the other day.” Taking care of his ex while he was sick, after an extended shift, was not the best on his mental health lately. He was starting to miss the other. Looking over at Avery he pouted. @averywhittaker​

[averywhittaker]

nck-flanagan·:

“Depends on what comes in,” Nick echoes her shrug, “If there’s only enough for a candy bar, then,” He chuffs, grimly smiling, “Hah, I don’t think that’ll be enough for sharing.”

“You could buy a candy bar for a homeless kid?” she suggested and peeked up at his face, “Or even cheap gloves, I bet?” The question would have been peppy from almost anyone else but Avery had a knack for making even the peppiest of words sound perfectly still and calm.

[averywhittaker]

Avery shrugged, “Maybe, but are you keeping it yourself or giving it somewhere else..?” she shifted her weight and averted her look as she spoke.

“What are the chances I can get away with impersonating a Salvation Army Santa Claus? Do they even get any donations?”

@atlanta-rpgstarters​

[averywhittaker]

hillie-young·:

“Good to know. If you need another one I have a brand new box.” Judging by the look of the girl’s box she really didn’t smoke that often. Hillie admired her for that. This was one habit she wished she could break. “Mostly it’s just the mothers at my daughter’s school. Bunch of judgmental bitches if you ask me,” She mumbled. “Because it’s relaxing. I lay down here with my eyes closed and I can almost pretend I’m on a vacation.”

“Thanks,” Avery said working to make sure her quiet, normally-passive voice housed at least a little audible gratitude by lifting the word at the end. She listened to Hillie. Laying on the ground so you felt like you were on vacation was quite a concept but Avery figured questioning it would only make Hillie feel judged especially given the other element of her comment. She was already facing enough of that. There wasn’t a way to stop judgy people from judging, at least not that Avery knew of, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. “I’m sorry...” she said, “Do you want to talk about it?” 

[averywhittaker]

rose--ortiz‌:

reblog and bold your muses preference.

summer / winter / spring / fall

rain / snow / sun

lace / silk / cotton / velvet / denim

water / soda / liquor / beer / wine / coffee

breakfast / lunch / dinner

meat / sweets / fruits and vegetables

pop / rock / country / rap / other

staying up late / going to bed early

early rising / sleeping in

tv / movies / books / theater

extravagance / traditionalism / minimalism

love / money / power

having company / being alone / a healthy balance

dogs / cats

black / white / gold

for tattoos / against tattoos

white chocolate / dark chocolate / milk chocolate / none

city / nature / suburbs

religious / non religious

outer space / ocean

lots of friends / handful of friends / loner

meat eater / vegetarian / vegan

text message / phone calls / facetime

conservative / liberal / somewhere in the middle

belief in supernatural / no belief in supernatural

bright colors / pastel colors / neutral colors

christmas / halloween / thanksgiving / new years / none

email / hand writing letters

[averywhittaker]

kanevsky·:

         fletcher lowered his gaze to review her choice of shoes , nodding in approval –  he was more of a doc marten kind of guy , those shoes could trudge through all manner of toilet water and gunk that he was up against day-to-day . when he was on the court , though , a battered old pair of sneakers did just fine . “ of course you can play , doesn’t matter if you’re small . it just helps bein’ able to reach the hoop , but as long as you throw hard enough we can get you a few dunks . you’re with the best teacher , we’ll get you on the team in no time , “ eager to get avery to flash a smile ( a real , genuine one ) he backed onto the concrete and leaned back on one foot , squinting , flicking his wrist once again to catapult the ball through the awaiting ring with ease . “ you wanna tell your parents that gumby is teaching you sports ?? i’d be honoured . here , you try .. “ hurriedly he retrieved the ball and handed it over , tenderly helping avery position her hands to grip it just so . “ you gotta follow through with it , then there’s no going wrong .. i promise , “

avery watched him eye her shoes. a little relief flooded through her when he approved. she wasn’t sure why – fletcher was sweet so it wasn’t really a worry and even if it had been it wasn’t like she was being graded on her footwear. it was just basketball. it wasn’t that big of a deal if her shoes weren’t up to snuff. she listened to his friendly ramble and nodded along, “i have full faith in your teaching abilities,” she assured, “and i can’t wait to play with you.” avery watched fletcher land the ball in the hoop with seeming ease and her stomach twisted into a knot. there was no way it was that easy. “my parents will just be thrilled i’m interacting with an actual human being instead of just re-watching all the halloween episodes of brooklyn 99 yet again.” she said, with a tiny shrug. the comment was meant to be playful and joking but she would be lying if she said there wasn’t a hint of truth in it. she let him position the ball in her hands, aimed and threw. her heart sped up as she watched the ball speed towards the net and miss it completely. by at least a yard. “just a hunch, but, i think i didn’t follow through.” she said, giving him another fake smile.

[averywhittaker]

rose--ortiz·:

“Exactly.” She nodded, her lips thinning as she ran her fingers around the rim of her glass. “It’s heightism. Or as I like to call it bullshit.”

"how about both?" avery asked. her eyes lit up a little as she referenced the iconic gif.

[averywhittaker]

val--dupont·:

“Maybe we can go together? I’ll buy us some croissants or… ciders, or whatever the fuck that smell is. Just lead the way, yeah?” He held out an arm for her to take.

avery nodded before it registered that he was blind. her cheeks flushed a deep, embarrassed red beneath her foundation as she took his arm and said “yeah, of course. that sounds good. i don’t need anything though, but thank you.” she stumbled through her nervous ramble, “i’m not ready for fall to be over, i guess you aren’t either?”

[averywhittaker]

marshall-dyer·:

“A party of 8. Who doesn’t call ahead for a party of 8?” Mars sighed, rubbing his temples. “I don’t know. I try not to understand people any more. I’d be sitting there mulling over why people do what they do for… weeks.” He shook his head, leaning back against the seat.

avery got quiet for a moment. she related but she liked analyzing and understanding people. but it also felt like something she shouldn’t say because then she might have to explain and that was always weird. maybe she could hint at it? “i guess it doesn’t bother me. the mulling over it, i mean…”

[averywhittaker]

hillie-young·:

Hillie pulled out a lighter from her pocket and handed it up to the girl. “Here you go. Need a cigarette too or are you good?” Putting out her smoke, she pulled out another one. “Good to know someone in this city isn’t judging me.”

she shook her head, “i have a cigarette..” she said, digging through her bag until she pulled out the well worn box. she only let herself smoke one a day and she was nearing the end of this pack so it had been riding around for a while. “if people are judging you for smoking you’re hanging around the wrong people.” she said, forcing the tiniest of smiles onto her face. “how come you’re laying on the dirty atlanta ground for a smoke, though?”

[averywhittaker]

t-aldamiri·:

Tereik nodded, he wanted to focus on “his” tomb, but he didn’t want people to get bored either, that was why he’d asked in the first place.  “That’s probably why people who don’t live go into it,” he said with a smile, “Tutankhamun is why I went into the field, since I related to him a lot growing up, and getting to work with his mummy was everything I could have hoped for.  Finding the tomb though, that was the moment all archaeologists dream about, I’d tell that story every day if I could.” 

avery couldn’t help her eyebrows from furrowing when tereik said he related to tutankhamun. “wait, wasn’t he really young when he died and terribly sick from inbred caused illnesses? can i ask why you relate to him?” she asked, angling herself towards him to hear his answer.

[averywhittaker]

       lost in her own world, avery scanned the shelves of the drug store. she knew iron supplements were here somewhere but she had no idea where. she must have scanned the shelves four or five times. tears pricked her eyes. it was a dumb reason to cry and she knew that but now she would have to talk to an employee and it kind of felt like her voice had shriveled up and was hiding so deep in her that it couldn’t possible work anymore. or like, if she spoke, black smog would come pouring out instead of words. she felt grotesque and surely it would show in her speech, right? she was about to turn and slip out of the store without the supplements ( her parents would be upset ) when she heard the shriek. avery startled so hard she dropped her phone. heart pounding she turned. it took a second to process BJ standing there, looking delighted with herself. “oh, my god. BJ, don’t scare me like that!” avery lamented, more for the sake of reaction than anything else. in truth, being startled had scared her mind back into her skin and she felt a little more Real and a little less Artificial than before.

( – *  ☆ ☽ ♢ OPEN STARTER . 

       she didn’t frequent the drugstore often but b.j had to hurry down for a few bits – she was heavily pregnant , walking as if smuggling a bowling ball beneath her shirt , just about to ghost down another one of the aisles before stopping dead in her tracks . both brows raised , and she slowly crept up behind the other before shrieking behind them , an attempt at scaring the figure before even really identifying who it had been . “ guess who !! “ she giggled , although her now round frame was rather difficult to mistake for anybody else .

[averywhittaker]

          “undiscovered tomb angle. even if they’re not famous people like the idea of discovery. it’s why exploration stories are so popular. plus, people go into egyptology because they want to work in eqypt, right? not for being in a lab all day just running tests.”

“Alright, I need an unbiased opinion.  The museum where I work is sending me on a lecture tour, I’m supposed to travel around Georgia and tell people about my career as an archaeologist and get them excited to come check out the new Egyptology department.  That’s all fine, but I need to know what’s a better selling point for people who don’t know much about the field.  I could talk about the tomb I discovered, totally untouched until we got there, but was a 5th Dynasty noble that no one knows anything about, or I could talk about my work with King Tut’s mummy back in ‘08 where we did CAT scans and DNA tested him and the like.  Obviously he’s a crowd pleaser, but he was discovered in 1924 and I’m a little worried if I make him the focus of my speech, people will know most of what I’m talking about already.  Which do you think is a better angle?”

@atlanta-rpgstarters​

[averywhittaker]

         avery shook her head a little, “i’m not judging you,” she promised in her quiet voice, “i just wanted to ask if i could borrow your light?” it was only half a lie. avery really wasn’t there to judge her but she was concerned. most people didn’t come lie on the ground to smoke. that was a sign, in avery’s mind anyway, that something was deeply and drastically wrong. in her experience, only very sad or very overwhelmed people laid on the ground that way.

Hillie just needed a moment to herself. A moment of some peace and quiet away from everyone. Sure she knew there were probably better places to get it but she didn’t care. Lighting up a smoke, she laid down on the ground. She ignored the approaching footsteps she heard. Looking up, she sighed, “Yes I know the ground is dirty. Yes I know smoking is bad for me. No I don’t care what you think. Something I can help you with?”

[averywhittaker]

         “yeah, i smell it too. just… fall scent. i think it’s coming from the bakery on the corner..? i could go check for you, if you want..?”

“This is… a weird question, but there’s a really fuckin’ good smell around here and I’m trying to pinpoint it. I can’t see, so I gotta rely on you- it’s… I want to say cinnamon? Maybe apple? Is there some kind of food stand around selling apple turnovers? Or am I crazy? Because it smells like Fall, and I really fuckin’ need some mulled cider or a pumpkin muffin or somethin’ before it all goes away for winter shit.” 

@atlanta-rpgstarters​