#avery frost

“Isn’t it a little cold to be swimming?”

“It’s heated!” Terra called out from in the pool. She was a total sweetheart, but Tate’s time in Lethe was her first time meeting the girl. They were roommates. “Oh, well then everything’s peachy keen huh?” she rhetorically asked Avery who was sitting by the water.

She didn’t want to talk about the day she had had. Mack texting her, Peter asking questions... it was too early to tell. But she knew Avery would ask.

She picked up a hula hoop from the toy bin and brought it over to her stepsister, then started to use it. “He’s nice, but I really can’t answer any questions just yet. It’s too soon, Avery. You know?” The hula hoop dropped to her toes and she bent over to pick it up. “He gave me his phone number though. I guess I should text him and tell him I don’t hate him or something. There’s... possibility. But I also can’t trust him, y’know? Not yet. Not after... not after my dad.”

Her hands were stained with grease and she smelled like it, too. But her friend Avery had arrived for their weekly lunch at Asmodean Autos and here she was, chomping on her boring peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. Today’s topic: the Riverborn. “I know that they’re probably good people, but we still don’t know who did this to them. They could be cogs in a greater machine trying to harm supernaturals! Who knows what conspiracies are out there, Ave? We gotta watch our own backs cause nobody else got it. I just don’t think you should be getting all touchy with them. Friendly is one thing, but let the professionals do their experiments instead of conducting your own,” she chuckled unabashedly.

He stumbled away from Asmodean Autos. It was still standing, thank God, but fire continually shot out of his fingertips like a flamethrower. He was afraid to be around people, which is why he and his brother had split up, so he was staggering down the street (in the middle of the road, through all the confusion). He saw people run around him, and got the urge to go up to them, grab their arm, and inhale. No, he told himself. You’ve never been greedy, why start now? His lamia abilities were for some reason uncontrollable, that much was obvious. He crossed his arms over his chest, and subsequently... basically burned his shirt off, but his skin was unharmed of course, thanks to his species. He saw a girl, one of her hands shot out fire while the other held onto her phone. She was reading something, through all this confusion. There were screams in the distance, and she was texting. He recognized her as Avery, and jogged up to her, not knowing why when he was just so damn hungry. “Are you okay?” was all he could think to ask. 

The day was too beautiful to stay indoors, air remaining crisp even after noon while the sun shone behind moving clouds. Damien rode his bike in the cool air, grateful for some semblance of normalcy and beauty in his life. He looked down and saw a shining silver-blue rock, another beautiful thing to a beautiful day. He considered taking up rock collecting, or something that Meyer had told him to find a hobby. He didn’t know if listening to music was a hobby, but he wasn’t about to start knitting because the werewolf councilman recommended it. Rocks on the other hand could be smooth or rough, an abundance of colors and sizes.

Damien hadn’t meant to zone out but he was lost in his thought, it was an honest mistake. Well, someone turned a corner at precisely the wrong moment and his front wheel hit her in the thigh and sent Damien toppling to the left, scraping his cheek and temple against the brittle road. With the surprise, he couldn’t even tell if the woman was flat on the ground or still standing. He breathed heavily for a few moments before sitting up to view the damage, not recognizing the other as his friend Avery. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He shrilled. He got on his hands and knees, body aching from the tumble, to help her up. It was then that he recognized the red hair. “Oh my God Avery are you okay?”

It was at least an hour after the town meeting. The atmosphere had been so dreary that Rafi had considering not opening up shop, but when Aliza came over she had brightened the mood a little bit, and despite the bakery usually closing in the afternoon, he had opened it again just in case people trickled in. Apparently he had the right idea at first, for people weren’t hungry after the meeting. They’d barely gotten anyone. Aliza was sitting on the counter, dangling her feet, and Rafi was seriously considering closing up and bringing Nik all the leftovers when a familiar face came up to the door. He’d smiled at her and helped her pick out her order. As she made her way to sit down, looking so lonely in the sea of tables and chairs, he decided to join her and sit across from her. “Hope it’s not weird if I watch you eat,” he chuckled. “If you want I can bring a croissant and we can spill crumbs together.” 

Avery’s family was far from typical. When she was four, her parents split up. It was a good decision and they remained friendly, making a loving family for their kids. Both of them remarried not long after, both to people with kids of their own. After having more kids in their respective marriages (and her father and step-mother fostering), she ended up with twelve siblings in total, counting Tate Brandt who had been fostered with them.

As a teenager, Avery was a very different person than the one she grew into. She came from a privileged family that was quite wealthy, and this led her to have an unpleasant attitude that was often directed to other kids at school (though never her family). She was a classic “mean girl”, until she was sent to boarding school to better her education. There she was suddenly the small fish in the pond and the roles reversed. She got a first hand look at the bullying she had put others through and it acted as a hard wake up call, jolting her into a much different role. 

The bullying was hard, but Avery also had her powers to worry about concealing, which was far from easy when she accidentally set things on fire when her emotions got the better of her. She became incredibly kind and gentle hearted, always looking to help someone who was struggling, especially socially. By the time she returned to her home town of Sedona, Arizona in her senior year, she was softer and kinder, always the first to reach out to someone who seemed to be struggling. This stayed with her as she went to Berkley for college. Her family life was supportive, her many siblings and mother and stepfather more than accepting of her goals and decision to go to Berkley.

Avery grew tired of her life soon after college. She had gotten a job at a magazine, and was restless with the meaningless articles about dating and clothes. Soon, she decided to hit the road and travel until she found a place to settle. Her stepfather was from Romulus and she went there mostly out of curiosity, as she had always been enamored with his stories of it, though he never told her that much detail.

The first week of school, Nolyn had come to pick up Eden but she was holding a little girl’s hand. Apparently this girl, Terra, was fairly new just like Eden, and was adjusting to the town as well. They ultimately hit it off. Nolyn, being the extrovert that he was, had got talking to the girl’s guardian, an aunt named Avery who was really rather young, but she had a smart head atop her shoulders. To give the youngster some time to spend with people her own age, Nolyn had offered to watch the girls at his house since there was so much space, multiple adult supervision, lots of animals to play with, and a literal playroom. 

As Avery walked up to the door of the home, Eden jumped up and down, singing some gibberish song of excitement. When the two came over for the first time, Nolyn opened the door and showed the house, showing the rooms and answering any questions Avery had about safety concerns. “Rod is just upstairs in his room practicing some show right now, and I mean... we’re fae, so we can always heal Terra at the worst-case scenario? Would you want that or no?”

As a teenager, Avery was a very different person than the one she grew into. She came from a privileged family that was quite wealthy, and this led her to have an unpleasant attitude that was often directed to other kids at school. She was a classic “mean girl”, until she was sent to boarding school to better her education. There she was suddenly the small fish in the pond and the roles reversed. She got a first hand look at the bullying she had put others through and it acted as a hard wake up call, jolting her into a much different role. The bullying was hard, but Avery also had her powers to worry about concealing, which was far from easy when she accidentally set things on fire when her emotions got the better of her. By the time she returned to her home town of Sedona, Arizona, she was softer and kinder, always the first to reach out to someone who seemed to be struggling. This stayed with her as she went to Berkley for college. Her family life was supportive, her many siblings and mother and stepfather more than accepting of her goals and decision to go to Berkley.

Avery grew tired of her life soon after college. She had gotten a job at a magazine, and was restless with the meaningless articles about dating and clothes. Soon, she decided to hit the road and travel until she found a place to settle. Her stepfather was from Lethe and she went there mostly out of curiosity, as she had always been enamored with his stories of it, though he never told her that much detail. She has now been there for a year and a half and has loved every moment.