Dr. Simmons

Mike still wasn’t sure why he was at this ridiculous party. Sure some of his friends and employees were there, but he didn’t see why he needed to be. Parties had never been his thing, he preferred quiet, less crowded nights. But after hearing a handful of his clients would be attending, he knew he needed to make an appearance. Thankfully, there seemed to be no shortage of alcohol, maybe too much judging by the man who was currently making a scene. Mike planned on doing nothing but watching, that was until he noticed a familiar looking woman approach the man. Now deciding to act, he grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him away from Avery, before calling over security. Turning to face her once the man was taken away, Mike smiled upon recognizing her voice. “Well, now that you say that I kind of wish I hadn’t. That would’ve been quite the sight, but you’re welcome.”

As soon as she heard the familiar voice, she only became more at ease seeing that she had finally ran into someone she knew. With all the masks, it was hard to tell who anyone was unless you looked close enough, but in time Avery also learned that it was either weird to keep staring at someone or just plain rude. “Give it another good fifteen minutes and i’m pretty sure i’ll end up tasing someone.” she adds playfully, but a part of her knew her brother would not stop. This was probably the source of entertainment for him, so she shouldn’t be surprised if someone else showed up just as drunken as the last. Looking at the male who --without a doubt, looked nice, a smile played across her lips. “You look sharp, I wouldn’t have known it was you unless you hadn’t spoken up. I’m glad you ended up coming.” 

ben was stuck laughing at a table in the corner of the ballroom as he watched one of the younger males make a complete ass of himself. he wasn’t to be held responsible for whatever his clients may do after they are sold his product. that was his motto and he stuck by it. everyone was affected differently by drugs and it wasn’t his problem that some can go bad. the strung out guy, kept trying to get women to dance with him and sometimes even a few guys. his stumbling feet were not at all appropriate for proper dance moves, so he soon gave that up and pulled the women close for a hug, if you can call it that. suddenly, a women in a pale dress started to address the high guest. he was confused as to what she thought she could do, not to mention she was ruining all the fun. some other guy later stepped in and escorted the man out. “ boo! ” he shouted, throwing a thumbs down in the air as a joke. he laughed once more before shaking his head and tending back to his drink.

The conversation she was having came to a halt when she heard her brother’s obnoxious commentary which only caused her to roll her eyes in response. Alright, she could go ahead and ignore him, but unfortunately, she couldn’t. So excusing herself from the person she was speaking with, Avery gracefully walked towards him in the back. “You understand that you can get kicked if you get caught right?” Was she actually going to reprimand him for his actions? Yes, but was there a point to all of this? Probably not. “Just don’t get anyone killed for Christ’s sake.” came the harsh whisper. The last thing she needed was for someone to over dose on one of his drugs.

So, admittedly, her choice of wardrobe appeared more inviting than she intended for when it came to entitled males — that still certainly hadn’t given them the right to grab at her as if she were anything other than a human being. Two lethal adjectives that shouldn’t ever be mixed into one obnoxious combination: entitled and intoxicated. She’d already been more than lenient with his inappropriate actions by scolding him with a warning she was fully prepared to follow through on had he continued; and he did. Her body grew incredibly tense, and soon enough, she surely believed her grip was going to shatter the glass in her grasp. Bellamy sharply turned on her heel, with the intention of causing physical harm upon the other, before she was met with the back of a woman in a gown as opposed to the ‘gentleman’. She was half thankful, but Bellamy being Bellamy, was more irritated than actually appreciative — simply because she was fully willing to defend herself. Eyes watched as the male was now carried out of the ball, a wave of relief washed over her as it occurred. “You didn’t need to do that, you know.” Bellamy huffed with her words exiting more harshly than she would have liked, while she finished her glass. “I can handle myself.” Not ever being one to say thank you, it came to no surprise that she was finding it easier to attack the individual than actually praise her. After a moment of lingering silence, she proposed an offer to the masked woman, swallowing her act of kindness. “Can I — get you a drink?” It was her means of saying thank you, in Bell’s own quirky way.

Normally, she would have argued back, demanding some sort of appreciative gesture, but not in this moment. The obvious brunette could have taken care of this and she had no doubt, but a part of her felt responsible that the male had to show up and approach her in his intoxicated stupor. Why did she feel responsible? Because she was convinced her brother was the cause behind this. The Masquerade was supposed to be easy going and fun, not a place for tension, or violence or, hell, corruption all due to his damn business. “I know, but if you managed to kick his ass, i’d hate for you to be escorted out in the process.” came her own reply with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Avery was about to head off and find her brother, give him a piece of her mind when the woman had spoken up again. It was too bad she didn’t recognize her voice either, or she’d have some sort of clue as to who she was speaking to. “---I would actually love that.” One drink couldn’t hurt, why did she have to stand off to the sides and baby sit her baby brother? Screw it, what was one glass of alcohol going to do?

Though he really wasn’t much for events like this - Drew much preferred a quiet night in to a night of socializing - even Drew found himself enjoying the evening. He suspected a lot of it came from the fact that there were no students around and he got to see Katie all dressed up. But no matter the reason, he decided it had been a good choice to come. With Katie off saying hello to someone else, he had found a quiet area to wait, people watching as he did so. The little scuffle caught his attention and he moved in that direction but it seemed to be all sorted out by the time he got there. 

But before he could make his escape again, one of the people involved spoke. “Oh, I didn’t actually do anything. It was him,” he pointed out the man he’d seen escorting the unruly guest outside. “I’m glad you didn’t need to tase him though. I feel like that would put a damper on the night.”

It did tend to get confusing with the masks on, so when she had mistaken him to be the one to escort the drunken male out, she had to internally chastise herself for jumping to conclusions. “Sorry about that, I guess it’s hard to tell when a male figure gets in the way but in my defense the black coats had me confused more than the masquerade masks.” she adds. Oddly enough, it would have probably gotten her in trouble too if she had pulled out the taser from her purse. In her defense, with her brother around she was constantly paranoid that some hooded figure with brass knuckles would go after her own brother than herself in reality. 

“I’m glad it didn’t come down to that.” she finally added while pushing all negative thoughts away. “Since i’ve no idea who i’m speaking to, shall I go ahead and introduce myself or would you rather keep it a mystery?”

“I honestly thought I was going to have to tase him, so thank you for that.” she added before looking out to make sure her bother wasn’t the one behind this.

ben shrugged with a pursed lip as he went on his way to do just that. taking his time to get to the kitchen and to look in her fridge, he heard her continue with this rebellious streak of comments. she judged him and their family based on their illegal family activities, but never gave a thought to how there were some good qualities to her flesh and blood. “ relax, dad could give a shit about you and i didn’t tell anybody, not that i got a chance to… ” he replied trailing off a bit, he had just moved in a couple days ago after all. not to mention, he hadn’t made contact with their father just yet, he was too busy to give a minute to hear how his son was settling in or to even check in on reconnaissance. a blow to his heart echoed through his entire body just thinking of the absence of his father’s attention. his mind crossed the thought of their shared parent once again. he was still reeling from his disappearing daughter, and ben was jealous of the attention annie was getting despite having left six years ago. his comment was meant to sting, but he was sure she would wave it off as a blessing and was happy to hear that their father felt something, as she would say. “ there were rumors, nothing solid to fall on, but that’s not why i came. ” he lied. he missed his sister and loved to crash her party. however, the statement was also partly true, considering this part of town was increasing in illegal activity. it was the perfect place to set up camp and cash in on the elevating criminal behaviour. digging through the fridge finally, he pulled out some chilled wine. looking back from where he was, he met her eyes and held up the bottle. gesturing to it with a questioning expression. really? putting it back and then rummaging through the cabinets, he found a stash. “ how did you manage to disappear without a trace? no offence, but you couldn’t have done it all by yourself. ” he glanced over his shoulder. “ who helped you? ” 

Ouch. It shouldn’t have hurt, considering that’s just how their father was, but being the only girl, she would have at least thought that he wanted to know about her? Rather than voicing those foolish thoughts, she stood there quietly, while ignoring the fact that he was going through her fridge. Oh like old times except, they were both mature and older now. She cleared her throat before turning to watch him as he went through her fridge. “Don’t tell anyone.” It was more pleading than anything else. She loved her family -- that much was undeniable, but it was no surprise that she left for a reason. Her freedom. Being the only girl in the family, all she had were her brother’s eyes on her to make sure she wasn’t getting herself in trouble. Their father was never around for them, but he always had tight security around them. She remembered and while Ben was all too young to remember much, she knew that they were always being watched. She hated it, and what was the point if Ben turned out taking over the family business anyway? “Why couldn’t you just leave all this behind?” If he didn’t come for her, then the answer was obvious and again, it hurt a little knowing that she wasn’t important to her family. Perhaps that’s why they could never find her? Because they didn’t care? Hell, what if they already knew about her whereabouts but didn’t bother with her because she had made her choice? His judging comment about her wine only made her eyes roll. “You try talking to people with deep emotional problems.” she mumbled in response before walking up to him. “I have food in the oven and some beer, and since you’re not leaving anytime soon, then I want to know everything.” when he asked about how she had been helped, she remained silent. “I grew up around criminals who made hiding their living. It wasn’t that hard and I went to school, made a few friends who helped. But the person who planned it all out was mother.” she didn’t mean to just snitch out her mother like that, but if anything she did help her and it still confused her as to why she couldn’t protect Ben. Hell, why didnt she send him over to her? “Is she okay?” the only thought that crossed her mind were nothing but terrible thoughts. Was her family okay?