What Doesn't Kill You [open]

[EMMA FOREST]

Dedicated, that was a word that could describe Emma, or that she just knew what was out there. Every day she trained, mostly in her knife throwing skills, and combat with the knives. As an aria she wasn't the best in up close fighting since normally the demons she chose were farther away. She liked to sneak up on them rather than have them try and kill her before she can get a chant out. So she trained for a couple of hours each day after classes.

This training regimen started after she lost her older sister was killed by a demon. Her sister had also been an aria, but her weapon had been a shot gun. Either way she tried hard to protect herself. Her mother had lost two children, and there was no way she was leaving her little sister to fend off their older brothers. That was another reason she trained, so when she sparred with her brothers she didn't get her butt kicked too bad. Hey she even won once, but that was because she had managed to accidentally hit him in a sensitive area. It was an accident, she still felt bad about it.

At the moment she was standing with her back to a training dummy. She was sweating slightly and most of her knives were sticking out of the dummy. She had three left, which was the perfect amount for her special toss. She had gotten quite skilled at throwing multiple knives. Emmy hoped to achieve throwing five knives before she turned thirty five. That was more than plenty of time for her to get down throwing more than three. Taking a deep breath she focused on her attention on the aching sensation in her arm. She was going to have to stop soon or worry about hurting her arm and having to go see Declan. Not that she minded seeing Declan he was cool, she just didn't want to get injured.

All of a sudden she turned and flung the knives from her hand sending them sailing through the air towards the dummy. One landed in the forehead, one in the neck, the other in the heart. She stood there admiring her work as she rotated her shoulder.

[a. drew jackson]

drew, unlike some of her fellow staff members, did not frequent the athletic complex. because it smelled awful and who really wanted to hang out with a bunch of buff meat-heads? there was something so obnoxious about sports and the cheering. people saying, 'good job' or 'don't worry, you'll get it next time!' ridiculous how easily people could be cheered up. how could someone even be sure they'd get it the next time. especially since they'd just failed to do something incredibly simple as throwing a ball into a hoop. she strutted past the basketball courts, looking straight ahead. she didn't dare waste a glance on this pointless folly.

she wouldn't even have to be there if not for a group of pea-brained students, who had repeatedly failed to turn in their assignments, study for exams, and even come to class. god damn it. she knew they'd been skipping to go shooting. but you can't shoot a freaking demon if you can't find it. so why didn't they have the sense to attend her tracking class? she was going to make them come to her class, even if she had to drag them by their ears.

shoulders back, lips a bit pouty, eyes darting from side to side, nose turned up. it was a wonder she could keep the rain out of it. she slunk down the hall, listening to the various shots echo off the walls. but to her dismay she couldn't seem to find those scoundrels. well, it wasn't like drew to leave completely empty-handed. she had bothered to come down there. her efforts would not go unrewarded.

she stole a glance into a room she thought to be unoccupied because of the distinct lack of gunshots, hoping to practice just a little bit herself. not that she needed to work on her aim. but it wasn't empty. people always getting in her way. she let out a a sigh through pursed lips. ode to joy, it was emma. somehow that women, even though only four years her senior reminded drew of her mother. a warm and just a little bit fuzzy aria with a strong sense of family. christ. she even looked a little bit like her mother. she was not the least bit pleased with running into her. it always made her feel uncomfortable, as if mommy dearest had sent her younger self to santa prospera just to look over baby drew.

drew took a sharp intake of breath before she began to slow clap. impressive knife work, but the turning and the resulting hair flip were quite unnecessary. as casually as possible, she leaned against the door frame. still clapping as she teased, "practicing for the circus are we, emma?"

[EMMA FOREST]

Emma heard clapping and she turned to see Drew leaning on the door. For some reason Emma had the impression that Drew didn't like her, then again she didn't think Drew liked many people. But she really thought that Drew had this specific dislike for her, she just didn't know what, it wasn't like she had stepped on her toes or anything.

"Oye, hello Drew." Emma walked over to grab all her knives from the dummy and put them back into various sheaths and the fanny pack she carried around. "Den we mus be in one hell of a circus" She gave a half grin to the other blonde. She tried to be friendly, only somewhat turning the tease back at her. Really she wasn't that mean of a person, and she saw nothing wrong with Drew besides a slight attitude problem.

If anything Drew reminded her of her brothers, as did some of the other professors she knew. It made the whole home away from home thing a little to close at times. Em would like to consider Drew a friend but at this point in time that wasn't really possible, it just remained at co-workers. "You out lookin' for students to nag?" Drew was one of the stricter teachers, and Em had maybe hid a few of the students from her and a few other professors a couple of times. But that was a secret from the other professors and some of the students. Couldn't have them tattling or giving away the hiding spot.

[a. drew jackson]

friendly, sympathetic, happy family vibes. that was what she was getting from emma. she was tempted to cringe at the lack of a bite in the aria's voice. sometimes her goodwill could be a little overwhelming. all the feels of her mother's doppelgänger were just too close to home. not to mention creepy. how could you act amicably towards someone who obviously didn't like you. emma's perceived lack of sense could be added to the list of reasons why drew didn't like her.

unless she had eyes in the back of her head, emma wouldn't have seen the sneer spread across drew's face. the expression only stayed for a few seconds before her default unamused look returned. she watched closely as the woman as she put away her parlour tricks into her... she'd never noticed that thing before. weren't fanny packs those things for old, fat tourists with visors, sunburns, and sensible walking shoes? honestly, what some people voluntarily wore.

and it was cute, emma's attempt to talk back the her. cute in a you make me wanna barf way, but no matter. she offered the women a forced, toothless smile in response. "oh no, i'm sure i would not make it into the circus. i'm not a special as you are in my... um talents." she knew it'd be better to play nice with this woman, but oh it was just so hard. it took lots of effort to be pleasant. a lot of unnecessary effort.

she cleared her throat. "as a matter of fact, i am." it wasn't a rare occasion for drew to go hunting for some unfortunate soul, but it wasn't all that common either. but somehow emma knew exactly what she was doing. how strange. "you wouldn't happen to know where the sniveling bunch went., would you?" she asked with the slightest hint of accusation thrown in. she still stood leaning against the doorframe, a good fifteen feet or so from emma.

[EMMA FOREST]

Little did Drew know that since she was a teacher, and a younger sister, she did have eyes in the back of her head, not really she just knew when she was being given a look behind her back. She had gotten so used to it after having two older brothers that it was like second nature to her. She didn't say anything though, why point it out, it wasn't like it would make a difference, Drew would still sneer at her behind her back. Let her, she would be the grown up, fine by her.

God she was just like Matt, discrediting her abilities. Oh yeah, well wouldn't she be surprised if Em actually threw a knife at her now, not directly at her but at the door frame, land it right by her head. That would show her how useful she really was. OK she wasn't really going to throw a knife at Drew but she really wanted to, it was so tempting. If only she was a demon then she could hypnotize her as well, that would also be fun. But all in all Emma was a good person and wasn't going to attack another teacher for being annoying. "Aye, I see den, I knew I was stronger den you." She said calmly, only slightly trying to bait the other teacher.

Ah she knew it she was looking for students. For once she hadn't hid them. "Nope no clue cher." She said waving it off. She sounded just a little too suspicious, maybe she would change her hiding spot. "I guess dis would have been a good place to look." There was usually students down here training or what not. "Who you lookin' for?" Apparently it wasn't one of the ones she hid or she would have known Drew would have come looking and probably would have avoided this place as well.