Gray & Ava vs. the Creepy Thing

[bitethenbark]

Backdated to when the thing in Gray's apartment had been harassing him for a little over a week.Blood was a strong scent, one that drew in Ava every time without fail. It was usually the scent of wounded prey -- a victim who had somehow been bitten and then managed to flee. But even the blood of a wounded animal would make her involuntarily turn

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[gray_eames]

Days like these were few and far between, and Gray was realizing he was something very close to happy. Or he would have been, had he managed a second to himself since showing up to work at seven o'clock this morning. He'd always loved the first days with a new class, seeing all the kids for the first time and learning all of their names before they'd managed to pronounce his properly; and best of all was coming up with lesson plans

[bitethenbark]

She had to admit that he had a talent for keeping the children's attention, but watching Gray address the class made it painfully obvious that Ava had no experience with such creatures. These were all pure and untouched little beings -- Ava had no business with them. She kept her gaze calmly on him - if he had an inkling of what she was it was the safer location for her eyes. Even a glance at any of the children could mean that she was intending on striking them

[gray_eames]

Naturally, Gray's attention was mostly centered on the children during this conversation - having been a guardian angel for most of his life gave him certain smarts about how to keep an eye on everybody without even having an eye on them - but when this girl (who was not a girl, Gray could tell and it was making his spine edge) mentioned the apartment his eyes changed. The lightness in them that the kids had brought out flickered out, and his expression blanked too deliberately to mean nothing.

Lamb's blood? The wall. Just thinking it made him see it in his mind's eye, and other images threatened to creep up as well before he stamped them down and got very complete control over his imagination and his memories. "You came out here and interrupted a lesson to tell me my apartment smells curiously of lamb's blood?" Gray's tone was not amused, but his voice was level and quiet. "I think we can discuss this out of earshot of these eight year olds, Miss...?"

[bitethenbark]

"Smith, but I usually just go by Ava." She raised her gaze high enough to make it obvious that she wasn't going to back down, but not high enough to challenge him into a fight. "If you would prefer to speak later, we can. I live in 2A."

Ava could hear that the children were looking over at them and whispering. Despite how quiet they thought they were being, she could hear enough to know that Gray would get plenty of questions after she left. "I thought that now would be a better time than last night. My apologies for the inconvenience." She nodded her head and turned to walk away. "Good luck with your lesson, Mr. Eames."

[gray_eames]

Gray inclined his head as she left, but didn't say another word to the retreating back of Ava Smith. The entire conversation, including how close it had been to his class, was unsettling to Gray - but it was hardly a thing any teacher worth their salt would let interfere with the cause of education.

And the brazeness of a creature who looked like a girl, but most certainly wasn't one, walking up to a class full of little kids drove home to Gray that Truth and Consequences, Oregon wasn't the safest of places. He didn't know which way Ava's inclinations went, but he intended to find out.

Which was a good part of the reason why - three hours later, when school was finished and the kids were safely home - Gray walked past the stairs to his own apartment and along to Apartment 2A in Ashwood Heights.

He raised a hand, and knocked three times on the door.