The Assistant | Scavi

Ice and Tea

"Oh shit, Avi... sorry, I am so sorry, I didn't want this..."

Scott looked in shock at the musician, who held his forehead in pain and didn't say anything.

"Avi? Are you okay?" Scott asked once more.

"You fucking slammed a door into my face and you are asking if I am okay?" Avi growled. "Shit..."

Scott took a deep breath and tried to collect himself and to think of what to do. "Are you bleeding? Should we ice it?"

"I don't know... I can't see anything..."

Scott sighed. "Come on." He carefully pulled Avi into the bathroom. "Let me take a look." He softly put one hand onto Avi's cheek and pulled Avi's hand away with his other hand.

"Is it bleeding?" Avi asked and Scott could've sworn that the singer sounded a bit concerned.

"No, it's okay" he therefore replied with a soft voice. "No blood. But we should ice it..." He took a few paper towels and wet them with cold water. "Here, this might help for now" he said softly and carefully pressed the towels onto Avi's temple. "But we should get some real ice so it doesn't swell..."

Avi took a deep breath. "Thank you, Scott" he said and took the towel himself. "We probably have some ice somewhere. There's a little quiet slash first-aid room down the corridor on the left, maybe there is an ice pack?"

Scott nodded. "I'll go check... you..."

"I came here to take a wee? So unless you want to watch?" He smirked.

Scott blushed. "Errm... I'll go and see if I can find some ice." He hurried out of the bathroom and searched for the first-aid room. Once he had found it, he searched for an ice pack and found one in one of the drawers. He rushed back to the bathroom with it and smiled at Avi, who was looking at the small bump on his temple.

"I got something" Scott said and punched the disposable ice-pack until he felt it turn cold. "Here you go..."

Avi grabbed the ice-pack. "Thanks" he grunted. "I just hope it won't be visible when we're shooting the video..."

Scott smiled. "I think you'll be fine by then if you ice it regularly. Does it hurt?"

Avi shook his head. "No... I... I need to go back to the studio."

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Me too. Do you want me to get you a cup of tea beforehand?"

Avi furrowed his brows, but then he nodded. "Yes, a cup of tea sounds great, actually, thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh and we're recording in the big studio, in the basement" Scott informed him.

"Good... I'll meet you there" Avi said and was out of the room before Scott could say anything else.

Scott sighed. He still didn't know how to read Avi. He had been nice, almost playful, but then again a little curt. But then again, he was probably hurting after this little accident. Scott decided to not think about it too much and went downstairs into the tea kitchen to prepare Avi's tea, before he went into the studio. Before meeting Avi in the bathroom, he had already sorted the sheet music he had messed up the day before and set up the studio for the musicians once Kevin had joined him.

It had been a great morning, still Scott had dreaded meeting Avi, because he didn't know what to expect. But now he was okay with whatever mood Avi would throw at him. He was here to complete his studies and to learn. He could do this.

He knocked at the studio door and was surprised that it was Avi who opened it. The musician was still holding the ice-pack to his temple. "Here..." Scott gave Avi his tea and smiled slightly. "Hope it's okay."

Avi smiled slightly. "It will be, thank you." He sat back down on the sofa in the corner while Scott took his seat next to Kevin, who was watching as the musicians got ready in the bigger recording room.

"Seems as if you and Avi are hitting it off today" Kevin remarked.

Scott chuckled. "Wow, this was such a Dad joke" he said and rolled his eyes.

Kevin shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. "Let's just start working. I have explained some of the basics on here yesterday, let's see what you remember..."

After that Kevin let Scott help him work through the recording session with the musicians. They were recording several bits with them, for different songs Scott didn't know yet. 

It was a rather eventful day for Scott. He got more and more used to all the devices and Kevin and the musicians were so patient with him, it was great. Avi was there for the whole time, too, but he mostly stayed in the background and only talked when Kevin asked him for an opinion or when he wanted to have something changed. 

During a break, Scott decided to talk to him, scared that his head hurt worse than expected. He followed him to the tea kitchen, wanting to get some coffee for himself anyway. He opened the door and was surprised when Avi almost jumped and turned around rapidly. "What is it?" He asked gruffly. 

"It's just me, wanted to get some coffee..." Scott said softly. "How's your head? Do you need a new ice pack or some painkillers?" 

"No, swelling seems under control and I just took some painkillers" Avi said and took the filter out of his cup. He then shoved the cup over to Scott. "Here..." he said and started to prepare another cup of tea. 

"Thank you but I wanted coffee..." Scott said, looking down at the cup on the counter. 

"The machine is broken." Avi said. "I'm just saving you from shitty instant coffee."

"But... I don't like tea?" Scott asked.

Avi rolled his eyes. "Have you even tried this kind of tea before? I don't like every kind of tea either. Rooibos for example. Not fond of that one."

Scott sighed. "Okay, I'll take a sip." He did so and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled. 

Avi grinned. "Told you so" he said. 

"It's interesting..." Scott said. "Not bad honestly..." He took another sip. "Better than instant coffee for sure."

Avi grinned at him. "See? Give tea a try." His cup of tea was by then finished and he left the room without saying anything else. 

Scott furrowed his brows. He still didn't understand this man. How he went from being gruff to sharing his tea with him. It was confusing. And since he was almost sure that he would spend a lot of time working with Avi, he wanted to know where he stood. He made a mental note to try and observe Avi's behaviour a little more and then talk through everything with Mitch, hoping his best friend would be able to help him. Then he took his cup and wanted to go back to the studio, but decided to snap a quick picture of the tea, because he kinda liked it and thought that it was something he and Avi could connect with and maybe find a common ground. 

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