brains and brawn

Ava laughed lightly at his reaction. “Must be someone horrible, I’ve never seen you so… jumpy.” She smiled slightly, her eyes studying his face, searching for a reason for his hostility. “But don’t worry, I know the feeling, I’m trying to avoid a few people too and fortunately, this place seems to be the best place for problem solving.” She joked, raising her shot glass and downing the liquid in one gulp. As usual, Ava welcomed the familiar taste, as it left a slight burn in its path.

"You have no idea." Eric said, laughing even though the situation he was in wasn't funny in the slightest. Still, Ava didn't need to know that. Running a hand through his hair, the leader shook his head and took another swig from the bottle of amber liquid set before him. He was thankful that the other leaders had actually included the bar — the other factions didn't really drink, he knew that much, but Dauntless wasn't fun without drinking. It was giving him something to do other than cower with his tail between his legs at any sight of Jeanine. Hell, maybe the alcohol would actually strike some courage within him. Maybe he'd tell her to fuck off.

"I’m everyone’s type, dumbass. Besides, you learned all the important things. That was enough.”

"Really?" Eric raised an incredulous eyebrow, laughing. "I'm sure the Stiffs would just eat you up. The important stuff, yeah? I gotta give you that — but only like, twenty percent credit. The rest was all me."

For Ava the 4th of July was something that had weighed down her mind for a while now. The thought of factions mingling freely made her nervous. What if she bumped into her oldest brother, Elliot, in Erudite clothing or her other brother, Flynn, on Amity’s drug. Although the thought haunted her there was also a possibility they wouldn’t even recognise her anymore. The whole situation made her uncomfortable and angry with herself, she is Dauntless and she can do what she wants. Her eyes scanned the areas. Amity seemingly more free to mix with everyone. Abnegation and Erudite kept away from each other; and Candor were just here and there, but mostly stayed with people of there own faction.

Eric was jostled when Ava sat down in the empty seat next to him, his panic rising to the surface of his chest as he though shit, fuck, she's found me, she's going to kill me, fuck fuck fuck — and then he looked over at dark hair and mesmerizing blue eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ava." He said, relaxing back against the bar. He hadn't even noticed that he'd been so stiff. "Uh, nobody. Just someone that I really don't want to talk to."

Gene was not affected by the male’s words. He only smirked a bit wider and shook his head. “You’re so young,” he mumbled to himself. Anyone who knew Gene for more than the short period of time that Eric had knew that he was not one to simply butt out of someone’s business. It was just who he was. He tapped his finger on the bar and picked up the beer that was handed to him.

Eric cracked a grin at the comment on his age. Of course he was young. Gene, of all people, knew exactly how young Eric had been when he was appointed as a Leader (aged nineteen, to be exact, right after his final results came in). It wasn't like Eric was modest about it, either. It was clear that he'd made sure that everyone knew just exactly who he was within Dauntless. Scoffing, he shook his head slowly and looked over at Gene with his eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I'm young. You know this already. Hell, everybody does. I don't see anybody having a problem with that."

Gene had no inhibitions to be outside for this whole event. His family hated him — for good reason, he supposed. Anyone who wasn’t straight laced and focused on science was looked down upon in Erudite. He looked around the extend of the large festival and felt his stomach churn. “Fantastic,” He muttered, rolling tired eyes and letting out a heavy sigh. 

"Excuse me?" Eric asked, his head turned to the side as he looked at the much older leader. He was one among them, and he had no need to feel intimidated. Grabbing the beer that was set in front of him, he popped the cap and took a drink, the ice cold beverage sliding down easily. He looked at Gene, with his smirk and curious eyes, and couldn't help but feel the need to grimace. At least he was better than Jeanine.

"I know I’m cute, Eric. You don’t have to tell me twice." He smirked, "Nah, we’ll see about that. Gotta give credit where it’s due."

"Oh, please. Even if I was gay, you wouldn't be my type." Eric laughed, shaking his head. "Whatever, man. I didn't learn everything from you, y'know."

Ava smiled gently towards the man. “I’m sure,” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched, ignoring the pain in her neck. “I’ve never felt better.” The women joked. She had no idea how she got to the infirmary in the first place. “Oh god.” She laughed a little, covering her face with her hands. “You saw that?”

"I did." He pursed his lips as she swung her legs over the bed, knowing that she wanted to get up and leave, but Eric wasn't so sure that she should've been standing yet. At least he'd be there to catch her, though. "Only the last minute or so, if it makes you feel any better." He chuckled, shaking his head. "This isn't the first time you've blacked out, is it?" He could tell by looking at her — and her reaction when she'd woken up. Standard protocol was to ask the name, birth date, and what one was doing before they knocked out, and Ava had done all of those easily. She merely looked annoyed that she was still stuck in the infirmary, and that was not something a first-timer would do.

"I’ll be fine, just give me a shot of whisky and an ice pack."

"Are you sure, Ava?" Eric was worried about the trainer, having been at the fight when she had been knocked out. He'd been the one to take her to the infirmary and hadn't wanted to leave until he knew that she was all right. His relief had come quickly, but even more worry replaced his smile. "He nailed you pretty hard."

Word of the wise for all of you: I’d drop out of the fighting competition. You’re looking at the king of that shit right here. So unless you want to lose or get seriously injured, I’d back out now.

"Cute, O'Connell. Real cute." Eric grinned easily as he walked over towards the trainer. "The King? Now that's a bit much, even for you. We all know I'm gonna knock those fuckers right outta the ring — including you."

"yes sir, very happy." 

"Don't call me sir. I do not have the mental capacity to deal with that at the moment." Eric let out a heavy sigh before raised a pierced eyebrow at Hawk. "You've done good. Keep it up, and maybe you won't fall back down again."

Why do you think I’m pissed? Cause I can’t change shit.

"Take that out with your initiates. It's not my fault they can't learn how to move up the board."

And they’re still wrong.

"Are you questioning my judgement? The scores are down, Riley. As much as you might hate them, you can't change them now."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Something wrong?"