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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 3, 2012 11:21:45 GMT -5
The first week at the Academy had been a taxing one, and by the end of it Annabel just wanted to go home and sleep the weekend away. Or play video games. Or a combination of both, which she was probably going to end up doing. Either way, she wasn't quite sure what to think about her first week back. "I'm tired, I'm fine, there's nothing to really talk about," she lied to her brother when he asked her what was wrong. He seemed concerned, like he didn't believe her, but Annabel did not bother to offer a better explanation. He didn't push it. She liked that about him, the fact that he didn't try to force her to talk when she didn't want to. She did want to, in a way, but she was convinced that he wouldn't understand how she was feeling. He was Fire, he was like their parents, he didn't have to deal with the sort of culture shock she was feeling. To hear some of her fellows ragging on Fire elementals or deciding on cruel pranks they should play on said Fires made her nervous. She hadn't yet adapted. And the school work wasn't easy, either, not for someone who generally didn't do well with school in general. The elemental classes were really, really hard. The professors tried to encourage the freshmen by reassuring them that it was normal to have not accomplished anything by the end of week one but it still bugged her when a Thunder she sat next to had successfully charged the battery he'd been focusing energy on. He'd beat her. She hated losing.
She got out of the car and hugged her brother when he came around to her side of it, a little awkward since she had to reach up to put her arms around his neck. He returned the hug and twitched his lips at her. She knew it was more akin to a smile than anything else. "You have to go to work, right?" Joshua nodded and so while he went upstairs (presumably to catch a shower or something), she went into the kitchen and plopped her bag down on one stool before sitting next to it. Ugh, homework. The Water elemental pulled out one of her two heavy-duty binders and opened it, staring at the Science homework without much enthusiasm. Why did she have to have normal classes, too? She thought it might just be bearable if it was only elemental classes but no, they were added on to the regular middle-school bullshit she'd learned to know and hate. Ah well. She gave up quickly on the Science and switched to Elemental History, which she could already tell was going to be so much fun. "I can feel my brain melting already," she muttered to Eris, who simply jumped onto the counter and batted around a spoon that someone had left on the counter from the morning coffee. "Stupid cat." It was more affectionate than upset, though, and she held out her hand until the calico cat jumped onto the stool on the side opposite her bag.
She was petting the kitty as an excuse to avoid her homework when Nell walked into the kitchen, something that did not surprise the younger girl in the least. It was more surprising that she ever left. It was impossible to live with the Earth graduate and not realise her thing with food. "Hey, sis," she said, because Nell was her sister whether other people liked it or not. Annabel had always wanted a sister. She didn't tell Josh because she didn't want him to think he wasn't awesome or anything, but it was nice to have someone of her same gender around. Besides, Nell was really nice. She was happy for her big bro. "Did you—" She had to break off in order to yawn, looking irritated before she started over with, "Did you just get home, too?" Since Nell went to the Academy as well it was a plausible assumption but then again, maybe with the weird schedules of college students something else could be up. "I got back like... I dunno, ten minutes ago or something. Reeeeally tired but it's like, the middle of the day, so I can't go to sleep." Story of her life right there. "Are you making food?" Annabel liked food but it wasn't like she could cook most things. Nothing she wanted to eat, anyway. "I'm trying to understand this stupid... elemental history... stuff. Know anything about it?" Maybe Nell would, maybe not. She sounded more resigned than hopeful but that was exhaustion talking. Maybe coffee would wake her up.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 3, 2012 15:36:07 GMT -5
Nell threw down her card, fanning her hand out again as she reclined in the chair. Her father sat opposite, gazing at his hand with a bored expression on his face. ”That’s not possible, Nell.” She shook her head and continued to wait for his move. He was the kind of person that stood up and walked around during chess, had a cup of coffee, and then made the simplest move. Go wasn’t supposed to be a game like that, even though it was considered one of the hardest board games in existence. Not even computers can get a guarenteed win. And she liked to move as quick as she could for the amount of time those games could go on for. ”How is it not possible? You don’t know. It would make sense if we went far enough into space we’d find another parallel universe.” he asked as he threw his own card on the kitchen table. She took the pile and pushed it to the side. ”Because there is no ‘edge’ to the universe,” he replied. ”I’m not saying there is. All I’m saying is wormholes.” Everything between the two needed to turn into a debate, of course. It’s what they spent most of their time doing, luckily keeping it in the realms of academia most of the time. She won the game, and he got up then, his silent announcement that he was done. She packed up, putting her cards back in her bag before going over to the sink and pecking her father on the cheek.
Luckily, her father wasn’t too far away from her own home, so it was a short drive. She saw the Aventador in the garage, telling her that Josh and Annabel should be home. Entering through the door, she kicked her shoes off and unwraveled the scarves from around her neck. Two of them, to be exact. The cold did not treat her well at all. After getting down to her sweater and jeans, she slid he way into the kitchen, enjoying the frictionless floor. She saw Annabel sitting with her work all about, being a good little freshie, and smiled as she swung open the fridge door. ”Yo, yo, mana.” Nell tried not to go bilingual on people if they didn’t know the language, so she had to tell the girl before that it meant sister. The Earth graduate didn’t get her kicks from confusing people. She guessed that the girl was tired from the impressive yawn, and nodded when she restarted the question. ”Yeah. I only had morning classes today. Spent some time with my father.” She kept her private life private, but Annabel was part of her private life. She lived with the girl, co-existed with her, so Nell liked to make her privy to her whereabouts. She didn’t like going off withotu anyone knowing where she’d be. And hey, Annabel was already considered family, so she deserved to know about Nell’s…relatives. Nell wasn't in the habit of referring to them as her family. Her last name was Shepherd, and she guessed that in the future it'll be Dale, so she'd effectively cut all ties with anyone else. They did not exist.
Her assumption had been right about the yawn, and she grinned as she pulled out a can of Tang from the fridge. She could afford better than Tang, but she was rather fond of it. She turned her head so that she wouldn’t be speaking to the fridge when she said, ”Maybe you should take a nap. Just make sure it stays within the confines of an hour. Otherwise you’re screwed.” Pushing it meant waking up half-delirious, even more so thanks to the fact that it could possibly be dark outside. ”Where did Josh get off to?” she asked. Probably around the house, but she couldn’t be sure of exactly what he was doing. Nell gave a soft hum of affirmation, before asking, ”You in the mood for anything? Can’t make up my mind.” She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so she could eat the fridge itself at this point. Even though she didn’t think that would be particularly appetizing. She closed the fridge with her butt when Annabel mentioned elemental history. It was freshman stuff, right? Nell went around to peeer over the girl’s shoulder and said, ”Nah man. Apparently my teachers don’t agree with my theory that elementals originated from prehistoric elephants that held competitions of strength and tenacity.” Said with a completely straight face, of course. Elemental history? Well, that was something she had to wedge her senior year of high school. Constant cramming. Serious now, she patted her arm with the back of the hand holding her can and said, ”Yeah, I could help you out. What’ve you been having issues with?” She tutored Emmett, but that was in math. Still, Nell liked to believe she was usueful in the department of assisting others.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 4, 2012 0:31:47 GMT -5
Annabel thought it was pretty cool that Nell knew Spanish like her brother knew French, except Josh didn't usually have the habit of interjecting French into conversations like Nell did with Spanish. She idolized a lot of things about Nell and her bilingual bonus was one of them. "Must be nice," she said with an envious sigh. "Morning classes, I mean. Better than the whole day. How's your father?" She didn't know why Nell had gone over to his house and so it was more of a general question than anything else. Annabel realised she hadn't spoken to her own since last week, though Mom had called yesterday and they'd talked for a while. Hm. She'd need to fix that. She did love her parents even if they'd always been really busy when she was growing up. Everyone in the house had been busy except for Bryce and so it had probably fuelled her love of video games, something she could do to occupy herself. "Oh god, no, naps really f—screw me up." She was used to trying to watch her tongue in class and around her parents but while she blended quickly into the amendment of the curse it was still evident. Still, mission accomplished, she'd avoided saying fuck in front of Nell. She didn't want someone she practically idolized to think badly of her. All of her gaming friends cursed like truckers and she'd picked up on the lingo quite spectacularly but a lot of people didn't like to hear a thirteen year old running their mouth. "I fall asleep and stay asleep, and if I don't I feel really weird for the rest of the day." She loved her sleep but only when she got enough of it to avoid the whole wooziness thing.
Annabel glanced to the ceiling out of habit when Joshua was mentioned as if she were able to use x-ray vision to locate her brother elsewhere in the house. "Upstairs, I think. Probably in the shower, he said he has work today." There were days like these when she only saw Joshua a few times throughout when they passed one another in the house or when he drove with her to and from school. That was alright. Better than not having him around at all like when he'd lived with Nell. She didn't blame the Earth for that, though. It was because of their parents, she remembered. "I dunno, haven't really eaten all day except a couple Pop Tarts. I slept in," she admitted sheepishly, chuckling. Yeah, that's what happened when you stayed up all night trying to beat the final boss on a video game and only got a couple hours of sleep before you had to get up for school. "My fault I guess. Maybe something... breakfast-y?" There was probably a better word for it than that but words were hard and Annabel wasn't going to waste her breath trying to find a good one. She liked breakfast food. It was probably her favourite meal of the day. Eggs, bacon, sausages, cereals, anything that was usually associated with breakfast tasted good to her. Pancakes and waffles, too, especially when they were slathered with syrup. "Kinda feel like sausages?" It was a question as she looked at Nell, wondering if the Earth was up for those, too. And whatever went with sausages of course.
She stared at Nell for a moment, wondering. "Do you seriously think that?" She couldn't tell and so asking it was. She was used to asking a lot of questions about whether someone was serious or not with who she had as a brother. Joshua really was a pain in the backside sometimes with his jokes. She was never positive if he was pulling her leg or telling the truth. "Uh..." She couldn't actually remember what it was she needed help with and so she glanced back down at the book and tried to understand the text written there, shaking her head. This was hopeless. It should have been simple but it wasn't. "Looks like Chinese to me," she complained, shifting the binder over so that Nell could see the notes she'd written. "Something about government interference and the school and all that. You'd think it would actually be interesting but it's not." Well, alright, a lot of people found Elemental History a little informative and entertaining but she didn't care how the school had came to be and who their long-lost ancestors were. All Annabel cared about was learning to manipulate her water. "And then for theory I have to study how to make my stupid power work but I suck at it already. Maybe if I'd been Fire like everyone else..." It was clear she was still more than a tad bitter about the whole Water elemental thing as she shook her head. She hated feeling like her family had something that she did not. "Were your parents Earth, Nell?" Maybe if Nell was the odd one out, too, she wouldn't feel so bad.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 4, 2012 19:54:22 GMT -5
Nell smiled at the girl's words, enjoying listening to her speak of her gripes. "One day, you'll be in college and then you'll realize the necessity of morning class...so you can work on all the papers due the next day." Her professors really loved papers, as a matter of fact. At the question of her father, she scratched her head. "Not too good. He's been ill for a while, and the winter weather isn't treating him well." As usual when speaking of personal things like that, it was with a nonchalance to show that it did not bother her much at all, when it really did. She caught the almost-cuss that came from the thirteen-year-old's mouth and looked up at the ceiling as if making a plea to God to keep this girl's innocence in tact. She was friendly, meaning she could make friends with all the wrong sorts of people. And if she got a mouth on her...okay, well, Nell couldn't say anything about that. She hung around a lot of people and kept the f-bomb out of her vocabulary. "Probably not a good idea then," she said, brushing it off easily. She didn't nap herself because it felt like she would be missing a chunk of the day. Especially after last winter, when she had taken naps along with sleeping in. She didn't want to admit to herself that she feared a relapse if she started getting into the habit of napping. It was a similar theory as to why she didn't sleep after drinking sherry until she knew the alcohol had left her system.
The Earth girl nodded to show that she'd heard, fussing with the can to open it in a way that didn't mess up the paint on her nails. Her friend had done them for her and it would be a shame for all that hard work to go to waste. She settled with cracking the tab back with her teeth, and looked at it with a satisfied grin before making a soft 'hmm' noise in her throat when Annabel spoke again. "Then we need to get some food in you, pronto." Was this a family thing or something, the fact that they didn't eat much? Or did she just have high-standards because she ate absurdly large meals whenever she could? There was a time when she didn't have the luxury, and another time when she didn't even feel the desire to, but she liked to push that away. "Breakfast sounds good to me." She had actually eaten breakfast, gotten Timmies as a matter of fact. The girl feared she may have had an addiction, but who didn't? Nell checked to make sure they had it before, she said, "Sausage it is! With pancakes, and bacon, and toast..." She really shouldn't have said that aloud, because now her stomach was grumbling. After retrieving all the ingredients, she stalled in her food making to speak to Annabel about her studies.
Nell chuckled, shaking her head when the girl questioned if she actually believe that. "Nope. I have a firm grip on history." But as Ford said, "History is bunk." Who knew what happened in prehistoric times for sure? All people had were conjectures based on evidence. And that was the fun of it. History was a puzzle. Her lips twitched into an expression of amusement when Annabel seemed stumped. She may have gotten past the "I must hug this creature until she pops," phase with the girl since she was a grown up teenager now, but she couldn't help the warm fuzziness. Nell tilted her head when Annabel drew back and tapped a finger against the notes. "Maybe you should stop taking notes in a language you don't know," she joked, before saying, "All right, let's see..." Her quick eyes scanned it, and she was glad to see that she had actually learned this stuff, if not brushed over it briefly. Not too much time could be spent on any one thing in her time of cramming, but she had went on her own to learn a little more. She hated how ignorant she was sometimes, that in some conversations she'd feel isolated by her lack of knowledge of the world.
She went over as much as she knew how before hearing her speak about learning theory to control her Water powers. Her heart went out to the girl. The Dale family was of Fire lineage, and she was sure they'd all been expecting Annabel to be the same. "Ah, c'mon, water's cool. You love swimming, right? Imagine how awesome you'll be when you master your powers. You'll be like a dolphin or something." She was friends with a lot of Water elementals, they knew how to have fun. But she understood it had not been what Annabel wanted. She wondered what the girl did want, or if she just wanted to be like her family. The question made Nell grin, which was strange considering how personal it was. "Nope. I'm the only Earth elemental in my family." She leaned forward a bit. "And darn proud of it, too." They might not have liked it, but she did. Partly because it was in direct contrast to her family. "It makes me unique, yanno? I can do things no one else in my family can." There was definitely a bright side to Annabel's abilities. Of course there was, they were great things! She just needed to see it, is all. Hopefully she wouldn't be too stuck on it, even though she had grown up around the Dales.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 5, 2012 3:48:32 GMT -5
Annabel made a face when Nell mentioned papers, not liking the sound of that at all. She'd never been very good at writing papers because she didn't have that great of a way with words. She preferred to fill out stupid and seemingly pointless worksheets from which she'd forget all the information at a later date as opposed to actually doing research for anything. No wonder her brother was always so busy. She'd never understood him. It was like he'd stole the motivation and smarts from the rest of the family or something. "Ew, never mind," she groaned. She didn't know much about college but it sounded like shit. "How do you even stand it, Nell? Isn't it boring?" Belle thought it would be but with her dislike of school the Water elemental was already quite biased. It would be so convenient if one could snap their fingers and have instant knowledge. Or if you could pay for it. Their family had a lot of money, it would be so nice to just hand over the cash and know things. No work required. This was real life, though, and she'd never have that luxury. "Oh, jeez, that sucks," Annabel sympathized when Nell said that her father was sick. It always worried Annabel when people got sick because she didn't like illness. Feared it, actually. She blamed her father and Joshua for her paranoia, the way they went on about it when someone contracted something. You'd think they'd caught the plague. "I hope he gets better." She couldn't do anything to make it better for her 'sister' but she did hope things went well for Nell's sakes. She idolized Nell, she didn't want anything bad to happen to the girl or to her relatives. If only Annabel knew.
The blonde grinned when Nell agreed to her craving for breakfast foods, glad that there wasn't going to be any arguments or negotiations there. She wasn't the pushy type that would whine if Nell was the one making the food or anything like that but she still did want what she wanted. Josh? Well, he was her brother. She was allowed to whine at him. Nell was her sister but sisters were special. She only had one of those. "It'll be like a buffet," she said in a mixture of surprise and awe. Her stomach growled and she laughed. "Sounds good to me. I love bacon!" And sausage, and eggs, and pancakes, and everything else to do with the magnificence that was breakfast. She usually tried to eat something in the morning if she could, even if it was just a bowl of cereal, but sleeping in really was her downfall. If you tried to wake the girl up she'd just say she was coming and then fall right back to sleep. "Maybe if I eat something I'll feel better about this crap." She nudged her binder with a band and frowned at it. Crap was a lot less severe than fuck so she didn't bother correcting herself there. Crap, shit, damn, she didn't see how many of those were particularly bad. Then again, she was a young girl and she still had a lot of immaturity and naivete to her name.
A relieved laugh burst from her lips as Annabel shook her head. That was good. She'd almost been worried for a second there. "I thought you were serious! You have a great poker face." She'd wondered for the longest time why they'd called it a poker face until she'd actually played poker for herself and realised the whole thing about keeping a straight face. Man, had she ever felt stupid then. "I never liked history. Who cares what people did five hundred years ago? They're all dead now anyway." She pulled a face at the thought. It didn't matter whether it was the history of the elementals or whether it was the history of the planet they lived on, Annabel didn't have much patience for it. The dead guy who'd lead an army in some war or another probably didn't give two shits if people talked about him. He was dead. That was her logic. She liked to think about the future, about hovercrafts and cloning and supercomputers and all the things that humanity was accomplishing. She was excited for the gaming industry as well. What would they be able to do twenty years from now? "Neeeell," she groaned when the Earth teased her, but the smile on the Water's lips suggested she wasn't half as bothered as the drawn-out name had implied. "I just kinda wrote down what the guy was saying and tried not to fall asleep. I dunno what's important." She'd never been good at that, either. Highlighting the important stuff. It didn't work that way for her. She listened aptly as Nell explained anyway, trusting a family member far more than a teacher. She admired Nell so it wasn't hard.
Speaking of admiration, she hung onto every word that Nell said even though she doubted herself. "I do like swimming," she agreed skeptically, frowning. "Mastering them'll take forever, though. Now I'm just like... a piece of seaweed or something." Ew, seaweed. "I hate seaweed," she told Nell quite plainly, shaking her head. "It's so slimy and it tangles up your feet when you swim near the bottom." She did love the ocean, though, and she loved visiting relatives in Nova Scotia for that reason. Her mother's parents lived by the sea in the country and whenever they went to visit the girl was never out of the Water. "I guess it would be pretty cool, though. Maybe I'll grow gills or something." She laughed, kidding, but then a more serious thought occurred to her. "Hey, can Waters like, breathe underwater or something?" She didn't know if Nell would know that but she figured it was safe to ask. It made her feel good to know that Nell was the only Earth in her family, because she couldn't relate to her blood siblings since they'd both taken on the Fire genetics. Nell was different, though. She was an odd one out. They could be different together. "Really?" She sounded happy about it. "Well I guess if you look at it that way it's kinda cool. And Josh told me that Water elementals have ice and stuff, too. That'd be awesome." It was a college thing but it sounded pretty badass.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 5, 2012 18:31:19 GMT -5
She chuckled at the girls response to the thing about morning classes, momentarily forgetting that she did indeed have a paper to do for Histology. It amazed her when she had papers for a science class, and she had been discussing it with her father when she'd gone over his house before it had devolved into a debate about the metaphysics of the universe. "Not usually," she admitted. "And if it does get interesting, I try to find ways to make it interesting." It rarely got boring for her because all one had to think of it was putting a lion into a new habitat at the zoo, with new scenery and toys to play with. Or better yet, releasing that lion into the wild. The Academy was her Savannah. "Yeah. But thanks. I just need to keep an eye on him." For a biochemist, he was bad at treating ailments, even his own. It was something they had in common, and she wondered what his reasoning was. Manly pride, she always settled on. He didn't want to make a big deal out of anything.
Everyone loved breakfast for dinner! Lunch. Or brunch? No, it's too late for brunch. Linner? Lupper? Nell just decided that breakfast foods were good at any time of day. And who delegated them to breakfast, anyway? Why couldn't you eat pancakes as a meal? Nell didn't get the reasoning, so she didn't think anyone had to adhere to those kinds of rules. "Bacon is great," Nell half-sang. And they had it, too! An entire package (that'd she'd be using all of). Nell in a state of ditzy glory barely even noticed the use of the word crap--did she say crap at that age?--and told her, "Working is hard on an empty stomach, yeah. That's why you should always have snacks." Nell's prescription for anything, of course. Snacks were the perfect remedy for all. She kept whatever she could in her bag. Often she had people come to her for food in the middle of the day, because once you give someone something, they automatically assume that you'll have it everyday. Luckily for them, Nell was always stocked up. A mobile pantry.
Nell pointed her finger and clicked her tongue between her teeth when Annabel laughed and said that she'd gotten her there. "Make sure to tell your history teacher. I'm sure he...she...it will get a good kick out of that." The girl wanted to go back over to her father's house to have a debate about it, wondering how he'd react. He knew when she wasn't being serious about something, but still humored her with a debate over it. And with a straight face, too. He was the master of the poker face. Because it wasn't just a face, it was his personality. "Six billion world leaders just rolled over in their graves, Bellita," she said with a light chuckle. "Ah, I guess we need the stuff so that we can learn for the present and future. Like don't ever invade Russia." Or you will only have wine to drink and you will die. She wasn't going to go hardcore history fanatic and tell Annabel why it was so important and all that. The girl didn't like it, she figured she couldn't change that. Nell understood the whole not knowing what's important with notes issue, though. Especially with teachers who spent classes lecturing and you didn't know what you should be writing down or not. That's why she liked to compare notes. A study buddy or something would work decently for the Water student, she bet.
Nell lifted her hand as if to say, "There it is, my point, right there." No wonder Annabel turned out to be a Water. She knew that hobbies didn't have anything to do with it, but it couldn't just be a coincidence. "Note for the future, next time we go swimming clear seaweed for Annabel," she said as if speaking to herself about it. She nodded her head succinctly, tapping a fingernail against the can. "Maybe. But then you'll never be able to go on land, and I'll miss you." She cooed the last part, scrunching her lips together as if she didn't want to imagine a life where she could only visit her kid sister-in-law when visiting the ocean. Maybe throw her some fish if she needed a meal. "No, bro, but that would be pretty fly." She figured that kind of thing would deal more with Wind. Not even, since oxygen was needed to breathe and that was only a small component in wind. Or maybe she spent too much time with her father. "Yeah, you'll be able to manipulate ice someday. And then you can help a brother out when my car's engine freezes." It loved to do that, it seemed her vehicles had a hobby in common. "Think about it, though. Your family, they all have the same deal. They can light candles, whoopdedoo. You...you won't ever get dehydrated. And you can always stay clean. Water's the most important thing you need." Was she underselling fire? Ah, it was for Annabel's benefit.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 6, 2012 11:45:25 GMT -5
She scrunched up her nose at the thought but still felt a pulse of admiration toward Nell for the Earth elemental's ability to make something boring a lot more interest. "Share your secrets, Nell, it's not fair being all awesome and junk on your own." She laughed, shaking her head. Why did she surround herself with smart and successful people? Annabel wasn't a really envious person but sometimes she would feel pangs of jealousy. Josh was the smart and the successful one of the family. She did feel a bit overshadowed even if she didn't hold it against him. She knew that it was mostly her fault she was so dull (academically) in comparison. Now Nell, too? Too many smarts. Too many. She didn't resent Nell, either, though. Just admired. "Easy for you to say," the Water teased when Nell mentioned snacks. "You're like a walking vending machine. I'm impressed. Got anything on you right now?" Since they were about to eat, Annabel was asking out of sheer curiosity rather than a desire to stuff her face full of whatever snacks Nell happened to be carrying on her person. Belle usually brought food with her to school but it had been such a rushed morning that she'd been up and out of the door five minutes after Joshua had finally shook her awake, sounding irritated when he realised she'd completely ignored her alarm clock and shut it off. Guh, it wasn't her fault she wasn't a morning person like the two people she lived with. Annabel was a night owl, she liked being awake when the sun was down and the stars were out. Stars were pretty. Sometimes she longed for a telescope so she could see what it looked like up there.
Annabel gave a scoff of amusement when Nell spoke of her history teacher. "He," she informed her, voice taught with laughter, "but I'm sure he'll love to know you call him an it." She lost her composure at that and a short, sharp laugh burst from her throat. Practically everything was funny to the Water girl. Life was a game, a joke. It was easier to keep one's head above water, no pun intended, when a light mood was always in place. Annabel tried to stay happy because she knew there would be consequences to allowing her mood to dip. Nell called her Bellita and she surprisingly did not mind, not correcting her 'sister' in any way. She usually gave a firm reprimand to anyone and everyone who called her Belle and any variation of it, since Joshua had been the only one allowed to do so since she was a little kid. Like she called him Joshy. A pet name. Family only, so Nell's allowed. That was her justification. Nell was family to her. "Have there even been that many world leaders?" She seemed shocked and maybe a little dubious. Annabel didn't know fuck all about world leaders except for the fact that people complained about them a lot. She was still too young to really care about politics despite who her mother was. "Russia's really big and cold, right? Would you like, die from it?" Nope, clearly didn't know a thing. It was actually a pretty good thing she was so naive. Annabel hadn't been exposed to a lot of the world's horrors because she didn't care enough about school to listen. There were references to real life in many of the games she played but she didn't know enough to connect the dots.
Blue eyes lit up at the thought. "Hey, you're Earth! You totally could!" She figured that would be a useful power, actually. Her brother could burn foliage away but he couldn't do anything when the plant was under the ocean or anything like that. It was highly inconvenient for her. Then she thought of something else and seemed perturbed. "Won't that like, disrupt the ocean's ecosystem or whatever?" She listened in some classes and she'd been pretty entertained when they were learning about food chains and ecosystems in science. She liked life and everything that had to do with it. "Cause don't do that, I wouldn't want that." She might not be a fish, even if she swam like one, and she might eat them for dinner sometimes, but they were pretty to look at. She didn't like the idea of fucking shit up for them all because she wanted to take a swim. "I don't think I'd like being in the water all the time," Annabel concluded, shaking her head. "Then I'd shrivel up like a prune and that wouldn't be fun." She loved the water but sometimes if she swam too long her fingers and toes resembled raisins when she got out and that was really uncomfortable and weird. She definitely didn't like the idea of that and wondered if her arms and legs would eventually do the same if she stayed long enough. Could you die from that? The train of thought was not doing very well for her and so she stubbornly cut it short. No grim thoughts today!
She wouldn't mind being able to manipulate ice, she decided, and she definitely wasn't opposed to helping Nell out at all. She loved doing things for other people as long as they didn't inconvenience her too much. She wouldn't sell her soul for the sake of another but she was pretty friendly and willing to help. "Wouldn't heat be better for that, though?" Cause it was all hot and junk. "Unless like... the water would f-screw stuff up." 'Fuck shit up' probably wouldn't have been the best plan of action for that sentence. Yay, censorship! She was going to need to get better at this. Curse the fact that her gaming friends all cussed like truckers and that she'd easily picked up on and adapted to the lingo. She was an adaptable person. "Well yeah, Water's cool and all," she said, shrugging. "So is Fire. Earth. All the elements are. I just don't like that I'm all... different." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's like they have something that I don't." Anger issues. Too much pride. Aggression. The things that she was lacking were not necessarily bad things but when all of her family had something and she didn't have it, she couldn't help the fact that she felt left out of some kind of loop. Though it was kind good that she wasn't like Bryce.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 6, 2012 19:03:21 GMT -5
Nell tapped her fingers against her other hand in thought, trying to think of something that might help Annabel out. She never really had to explain her own methods before. Most people stuck their own devices, prideful as they could be. Some were curious, and she was willing to divulge. Plus, it was endearing how Annabel though she was awesome, even in jest. "Well, one thing is that if I am listening to a teacher lecture, I like to take notes as a song. It both entertains me and helps me learn. I also doodle out certain things. Like historical events. Make them comics." She wasn't great at it, but it entertained her. If she thought of history in some other media, it brought it closer to her, made it easier to remember the specific events. She was good with dates and names, but the connections were made easier with mnemonic devices. Nell chuckled at Annabel's words, scratching the back of her head. "Walking vending machine, I like that." She dropped her hand as her eyes widened in an effort to remember what she brought in her bag. "Pringles and cookies. Well, whatever's left of the Pringles." It was hard to pop them open in a silent classroom. There was only a moment of awkwardness as only crunching could be heard until everyone around her held their hands under the tables to receive the chips.
Nell groaned, amused herself by Annabel's laughter. She didn't care that she had been wrong about the gender twice. You got to laugh at yourself more than other people. "Aww, you're gonna get me in trouble with your teacher, aren't you?" She imagined a man coming up to the door and giving her a handful or worksheets to do for calling him an 'it'. That was kind of a scary thought. Nell imagined that some younger kids in school had those kinds of dreams, their teachers coming to their doors with loads of homework to do. "Probably," the girl said when she questioned the number of leaders in history. She didn't know the exact number herself. "The world's been spinning for a long time, and there's a lot of societies. I'll get back to you on the real number." There would be a time when Nell would come to her kid sister and state the estimated number of world leaders there have ever been. She didn't go back on her word. It was adorable, the fact that Annabel really didn't know much about the things out there. You and me both. "Big and cold. Anyone who ever tried to invade it ended up getting backtracked by the snow." She held her thumb down and blew a raspberry. "And there's bears, too. It's like Canada's big brother." Russia was like a freaking fortress. Hitler should have learned from Napoleon, but apparently he thought he was hot stuff. Stalingrad proved him wrong.
Being an Earth certainly had its benefits, she realized new things she could do every day. She was learning about everything everyday, though. Like the fact that if she left her debit card in the ATM, it sucked it in for security reasons. That was a big relief when she found out. Whoops. Nell laughed and poked Annabel in the arm. "Or you can man up and take the seaweed...like a man." She had to agree, though, it was an odd feeling. Especially algae on the bottom of lakes. Not scary, just...weird. Seaweed in the ocean was always kind of scary because whenever it brushed against her, thoughts instantly went to Shark Week and she jumped a little. She still loved the Water, sometimes wished that she could be like the Sinclairs and manipulate it. In a way she was envious of Annabel, in the way that one was envious of what they didn't have. "That is true. All kinds of animals eat it. Yeah, you should definitely man up." She almost added that they had weird sex deals, but decided she didn't want to have that sort of conversation with the girl. Apparently the thought of growing gills and being forced to stay in the water all the time did not sound like a great deal to Annabel, and she tilted her head. "Not if you turn into a mermaid. Then you'll never be pruney." She thought of The Little Mermaid, how returning to land she lost her voice and her feet bled when walking the streets. It wasn't too fun when that happened.
Annabel seemed curious about the water melting deal when it came to the engine. "Fire could be useful, too. But I had a Water friend do it once. Still had to take my car to the shop..." She shook her head, remembering her first winter here very well. Broke, confused, and buried in work. How far she'd come. Now she had a PT Cruiser. She was definitely living the life. And then she thought of how she was standing in the kitchen of a mansion. Yes, she was actually living the high life now, something she had to step back and consider quite a bit. Different. Nell had never seen anything being wrong with that. Everyone was different, even Fires were different from each other. "Everyone different. You'll get used to it, the whole Water deal. It'll be like an adventure!" Looking back, it was almost comical how readily Nell accepted her own powers. She had thought she was magical or something like that. "And you have something that they don't. I imagine that some of your relatives are jealous of you." Not completely jealous, but the sort of reverence and envy that Nell possessed. It must have been a thing between the elemental community, as much as alliances and enemies were enforced. She was just happy that she was an Earth. Nell knew that her life would have turned out much differently had the gene skipped her like it did her mother, and not for the better.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 7, 2012 12:12:12 GMT -5
Annabel listened with rapt attention as Nell explained her methods, clearly fascinated by the mere idea of what the Earth elemental could do. She'd never thought about trying to turn notes into songs or comics, never considered that things might be easier if she had fun with them. It was better than what her brother did, long notes full of nothing but words. She could read his writing, it was in plain English and pretty neat, but understanding it was, again, like taking a trip to China and trying to understand. "That's so neat," she said with enthusiasm, grinning. "Have you kept any of them at all? Can I see?" Annabel liked comics for the same reason that she liked video games. They were fun. She liked reading via pictures rather than walls of text because she didn't like pausing to try and visualise the scene of the book every five seconds. It sort of ruined the experience for her. She was used to movies and games and television where everything was provided for her and all she had to do was listen to the characters speak. Belle liked things to be simplified. Blue eyes sparkled with glee at the mention of the chips. "Pringles are so good," she hummed. She almost thought about hopping off the stool and rummaging in the cupboards to see if they had any but then she remembered that Nell was making food and restrained herself. The girl was pretty impatient and liked things to be presented to her the moment she wanted them but unfortunately no one had the power of instant cooking skills. That would be cool. She'd take that over Water any day... or would she? Maybe not.
The Water elemental mocked an evil laugh and rubbed her hands together conspiratorially when Nell asked about the teacher, giving no words. She let her silly actions speak for themselves. No, Annabel definitely wasn't the best at taking things seriously, but that was alright. It wasn't meant to be serious. Life was a joke to the girl. "That's always weirded me out," she confessed. "The world like, spinning, I mean. And being round. I mean I get that gravity keeps us from falling off and stuff but it's still weird." She had put a lot of thought into which side of the Earth was upside down, like walking with suction cups on your feet to stop you from falling back into space. These were the trains of thoughts she tended to have when sitting in class and it was probably a large part of the reason she was so bad at remembering facts. She confused herself with all the random musings that she had milling about in her head. "Okay," she said cheerfully, believing Nell when the girl said she'd get back to her. Annabel didn't mind learning when she actually asked about something. Voluntary learning was different than being forced to sit down in a room when you were half asleep and listen to a lesson that droned on for ages. "I like bears, they're cute," Annabel said thoughtfully. She knew you couldn't pet them and all, she wasn't stupid, but she still thought they were cute. Like big cats and wolves. Adorable but not friendly. "Bunch of chickens, can't handle the snow," she scoffed. "I bet I'd do a better job of invading." She was kidding of course. Annabel didn't like the snow too much when it was six feet high and you had to wade to get anywhere but she didn't hate it.
It was pretty clear that Annabel found Nell's comment funny by the way that she burst into laughter after a short pause, cheeks flushing red with the pressure as she ducked her head. She recovered after a moment and moved on as if nothing had happened. Nothing to see here, move on. "A lot of people eat it too, yeah? It looks gross, I don't know if I would." It looked green and tough and not all that edible but she'd heard of it being eaten before and she didn't know what to think about this. Her train of thought reminded her that Nell was really into a lot of food and she'd tried all sorts of it and so Annabel asked, "Have you ever had it, Nelly? Seaweed, like?" Annabel made a face, clearly not liking the idea. All the same, if her 'sister' liked seaweed and said that it was good, Annabel was willing to try it. The Water elemental was adventurous and tended to get into the spirit of trying new things. If someone gave her something that looked unappealing and dared her to try it, she would. She'd make a good candidate for a show like Fear Factor, especially since she wasn't too scared of spiders or snakes. Young and fearless. "I wouldn't want to be a mermaid," she protested. "Fish tails and seashell bras? No, no." She didn't want a fish tail because ew, fish were slimy. She liked her legs, thank you very much. And Annabel didn't exact want one of those tiny-ass bras. They looked very uncomfortable, thank you very much.
She understood then and nodded her head, not offering anything else on the matter. She didn't know too much about cars and so she'd trust Nell's word on it. She liked them when they went fast because it reminded her of racing games. She'd asked her brother to take her out in the Lamborghini and race it down the street once but he'd reminded her that it was illegal. Sad day. "I like adventures," she mused, bracing her palms on the very edges of the stool and swinging her legs back and forth. She was facing away from the island she was sitting at, the homework abandoned for the time being. Nell had helped her out with quite a bit and so Annabel believed that she deserved a break. Or maybe she didn't but she was taking one anyway. This was often what led to her procrastination. "I never thought of it like that before..." She did like the idea of having something that other people didn't. She hated feeling left out but they were all left out of what she had. "Plus, my element totally beats theirs in elemental rock, paper, scissors," she grinned, then faltered and added, "But yours is better than mine, so, um, don't kill me!" She laughed, though, clearly understanding that Nell would not kick her ass. She was mostly saying all of this in jest. Hopping off the stool for a moment to hug Nell, she said, "Thanks." It meant a lot to her that Nell would take the time to cheer her up.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 9, 2012 11:53:55 GMT -5
Nell nodded. Apparently the younger girl enjoyed the fact that she drew little comics to help her. She had gotten in trouble before when her professors had thought that she was simply doodling and not doing her work, but then they saw the pictures and figured it was okay. "Yeah, I have them. You can take a look after we eat." She brought most of her work home with her since she didn't live in the dorms. Her notes were pretty messy to the untrained eye, but sometimes she rewrote them if her friend wanted to use them. Not everyone enjoyed reading comics about nuclear fission. She laughed when Annabel said that she thought it was weird how they were suspended in space, spinning around forever, not stopping or ceasing. It was kind of terrifying when one thought about it. "Don't think on it too hard, or your brain will explode." She made a motion of her head bursting with the knowledge of how weird it is that the Earth is just in the middle of space, spinning on its axis. Nell snorted at Annabel's observation on bears. Really? "Just don't go around hugging them." Bears were the number one threat to America, but she didn't know about Canada. Oh, Canadians loved bears, didn't they? She tapped her nails against the can again, checking to see if the paint had chipped off any. Unfortunately, she tended to forget her nails were painted and ended up screwing them up. "Probably would. All you need to remember is invade in the summer. And pack some extra socks." Despite its reputation for being as cold as the seventh circle of hell, she'd read that it did get warm in the summer. She wouldn't know, but she decided to trust in what she read.
The Earth elemental wasn't going to deny her pride in making Annabel laugh. And she had thought she'd gotten over the puddle-of-Nell phase with the girl, but she was melting on the inside. Could one blame her? Annabel's cheeks were just so pinchable. "Yep. They eat all kinds of stuff in other countries." That simply got her mind soaring away to distant lands and what she could eat there. Canada had already been different enough with its poutine, and she'd been to Spain, but there was a lot of different cuisine out there that she wanted to get in her stomach. She wondered if anyone else felt that way about travel, and figured they had to. Who else could resist the temptation of a new meal? "Mhmm. They have it in sushi and that kind of stuff. It's also in some soups, I think." You wouldn't even be able to tell it was seaweed because it looked a lot like spinach. Most kids hated the idea of both, but Annabel was no longer a child, as she had to keep reminding herself. She wasn't a picky eater, either. Nell grinned when the Water girl said she didn't want to be a mermaid. 'And that's just the Disney version. Usually they go topless, so you better grow your hair out, niña." In all mythology, they just went around naked, which made sense. They were fish, what was Ariel doing with clams on her tits? Nell was positive that hadn't been in the Hans Christian Anderson version.
She was really trying to think of a few ways to get Annabel's spirits up about this whole situation. But she figured food would help out with a lot of it. What did food not help? It was what made the world go round. She liked to forget about the time when this had not been her mentality, when her stomach had hurt all the time and when she had tried her best to turn down any offers without it being noticed. But Josh had noticed, and she still couldn't believe it had gone on so long without her knowing. All of it seemed pointless now. Her smile was small and touched at her lips as Annabel relented that she hadn't looked at it that way before. Then she came up with something Nell hadn't even realized before. "Yeah, just think about it! If any of your relatives try to bully you, you can just hit them with a water gun." Pokemon had really been a bad game for her to buy, but that was beside the point. She wondered if that meant anyone in her family would fear her for that? Then she had to remind herself that this was not the same system her own relatives operated from. Her family turned away from the rejects, pretended they did not exist. And if they were forced to acknowledge the black sheep, they allowed their cruelty to speak for itself. "Better watch your back. Because you never know when a Venus flytrap will come out of nowhere and eat you." Never mind that they were not carnivorous, it was still a humorous image. In the same vein of Little Shop of Horrors.
Nell returned the hug with a soft chuckle, trying not to notice that the younger girl was taller than her, even if it was not noticeable. But Nell noticed. "No problem," she said. "Now I gotta get started on making our food before we turn to skeletons from hunger." She was certainly hungry, and since Annabel had eaten next to nothing today, she figured that the girl was feeling the same way. She went to get the skillets and put them on the stove top, always admiring just how fancy even the stove in this place was. All of her kitchens had never looked like this, and she felt like she was in paradise whenever she got to cook. She buttered the pans when she asked, "What kind of eggs do you want?" Nell could make pretty much any form of egg that Annabel asked for. She usually resorted to scrambled herself, even though she was fond of frying them. "You wanna put the bacon on?" Nell questioned. Not to make her work, of course, but because cooking was always fun, in her mind. Plus, it'd get their work done faster.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 9, 2012 14:55:16 GMT -5
Annabel grinned enthusiastically when Nell confirmed that she still had the notes, clearly pleased about this. They needed to wait until they ate and all but this didn't bother her impatience too much considering she really did want to put something in his stomach. It kept growling obnoxiously and she wanted to tell it to shush but knew it wouldn't listen to her. Stupid tummies. "Eugh," she said, shaking head head. "Then there would be like, brains all over the kitchen and stuff. Ew." She was paranoid enough about finding hair in her food after she'd pulled one out a while ago, even though the fact that it was long and blonde meant that it was hers and it'd probably just fell onto the plate when she was playing with her hair. She didn't need to worry about brains being in her lasagna or anything like that, too. "Jeez, Nell, I'm not gonna hug one," she laughed. "Don't you think polar bears are freaking adorable? I mean c'mon!" They were like regular bears but all white and stuff. Their cubs were so precious! She just couldn't. The cute was too much, she couldn't take it. "Really? Does it get less snow in the summer? Or like, none?" It probably should have made sense to her that Russia could get summer just like Canada could seeing as she'd grown up in the latter country but sometimes Annabel spoke without thinking and didn't review her sentences before she let them tumble past her lips. She was still young and didn't know too much about the world yet. It could be easily forgiven. Sometimes she felt really inadequate when compared to her older brother's success and ambition but it was easier to get over knowing that he'd never hold it over her head. It was just who he was, and this was just who she was.
Her appetite and adventure in the word of food was not as prominent as Nell's but she still found herself curious about the food that was served in other countries. "Well, yeah, I mean I guess that makes sense since they have Chinese and Mexican restaurants and all." There were more countries in the world than Mexico and China but Annabel wasn't well-schooled on culture. She knew what seafood was, though, and it would have been kind of concerning if she didn't. "I like fish but raw fish is... meh. Have you ever tried it?" Again, it was something that Annabel would probably try if dared to do so. She was pretty stubborn and set in the fact that she was awesome and could accomplish anything. She'd eat a slug if someone dared her just because it was a dare. Didn't matter how gross the thing looked or if it was slimy on the way down her throat, she'd swallow it and gag it down in order to prove she could. Annabel blushed at the idea of going around topless all the time, not liking that thought too much. She was naive and modest about her body, she never really got undressed around other people. "Um. Definitely don't want to be a mermaid, then," she said with a laugh. She would stick with her humanity and shirts to cover up her skin, thank you very much. She wasn't too self-conscious with a bikini considering she was usually thinking about swimming and not the fact that she wasn't wearing anything but she did feel weird going topless and pants-less around people. It was contradictory.
Annabel caught the Pokemon reference immediately and her eyes lit up. She always loved when people made mentions of things that she could actually understand because it truly allowed her to share in the joke of it all. "And then if Josh annoys either one of us I'll hit him with a Hydro Pump," she joked, trusting that Nell would probably know what this was if she'd played Pokemon before. Honestly she didn't think she'd ever have the balls to blast her brother with as much water pressure as that knowing that he could overpower her easily in a physical fight but it was fun to make jokes. It wasn't like he'd ever used his powers against her before so she'd be nice for the most part and keep hers to herself. Unless she wanted to troll. He'd probably just turn it to steam. Joy kill. "Those things are freaky," she said. "Now you're in college you could totally just get the Earth to open up and like, eat me." Yeah, the idea of the Earth just nomming on her was not one she liked to entertain but she trusted her sister not to do such a thing and so she'd let it slide that Nell could do really, really scary things like that. Out of curiosity, she questioned, "Are you good with quakes, Nell?" She knew that Earth graduates could sometimes manipulate stone or make the earth crack and shift but she also knew that, just like with Fires and heat, not everyone could learn it. Only with dedication came success or something like that. It was on a motivational poster in her morning classroom.
Annabel nodded with more gusto than was probably necessary, still grinning like an idiot. She was a happy child and Nell's company and encouragement had helped her to get over her moping for the day. She'd really needed that. Josh was good as a brother and all but sometimes he didn't get what it was like for her and so she was glad her future sister-in-law could be there for her. "Ooh, yeah, I'd almost forgotten about food! Whoops, sorry!" The apology was more amused than actually guilty because she figured that Nell didn't mean. "I think you'd hate being a skeleton. No food would stay in your stomach and you wouldn't have tastebuds to eat it." She pouted for a moment at the tragedy and jumped off the stool (having sat back down after the hug) when Nell asked about bacon. "Yeah, sure! And, uh... fried, maybe?" She liked fried eggs because she liked to dip the bread in the yolk and all. It was such a bright yellow, one of her favourite colours. Not that she was attracted aesthetically to eggs. They weren't much to look at but they tasted good. She put the bacon in the pan and hummed as she leaned against the counter. Cooking was fun, she liked it, especially when it was with Nell.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 10, 2012 16:45:28 GMT -5
Having brains all over the kitchen would not be the most pleasant sight. And quite the strange thing to explain to the staff. "Annabel was thinking about space and shit," she'd have to say. "Wonder if the cats would eat it," Nell pondered. Though that was more of a dog type deal. They ate anything, and she had a weakness for feeding her friend's pets human food whenever they looked up at her with their huge eyes, begging for whatever she was eating. As long as it wasn't chocolate, she figured she'd be fine with the dogs. She'd just make them a little fat. "They are," Nell admitted about polar bears, tilting her head up to think about it. "Especially the babies. Everything is cute when they're babies." Especially big cats like cheetahs and jaguars. And they're less dangerous when they're little like that, even though their claws were still crazy sharp. Well, that was at least what she'd heard from Animal Planet. Nell thought about Russia for a second, expression pensive. "I think it depends. It would be interesting to go there and find out." She loved the architecture, the buildings with their domes that looked like onions. "Though its mostly frozen all year round in Siberia." Its where they had exiled traitors and all that back when they could exile people and it wasn't considered weird. Now Russia was a Republic, with a pretty decent government and a president. They had recovered well from communism.
She thought of cuisine only found back home--not back home, back in America. But she couldn't think of anything that Americans made exclusively. Except pork roll, and that was limited to about two states. "I wonder what kinds of food are only in Canada. Other than poutine." She was at least pretty sure that other countries didn't have that. Or maybe they did and they were called something else. One couldn't rely on the girl for accurate information about societal things like that. Nell laughed when Annabel expressed distaste over raw fish. "It's pretty good. I mean, it doesn't even really taste raw. As long as you don't think about it, it's kind of like eating something else entirely." Raw food is definitely unhealthy depending on how its prepared. She would never eat a raw steak. Unless she had to, but it was hard to imagine the situation in which she'd be forced to consume raw meat. She didn't want to imagine that kind of situation. "No free-boobing, gotcha." Nell had to say she wasn't fond of walking around topless, either. She flashed when she was drunk, apparently, but that was only with the influence of Lark. Who certainly was not a good influence whatsoever. But if she were a mermaid, eh, she wouldn't really care. Everyone is topless in the sea.
It was clear that Annabel understood her reference by the look in her eye. Unfortunately, Nell had only really played the originals, Yellow and Crystal. Her Gameboy was one purchased at a yard sale. "And then I can follow that up with a vine whip." It really was a convenient attack, though she didn't often have to use it in real life. Why would she when she didn't get into fights? Unfortunately because of that she was probably at a level fifteen. She got only practice in for class with fighting, and even that was bothersome to her. "Never to be seen again," Nell said, shaking her head as if lamenting this. Poor Annabel being eaten by the ground. The thought was actually terrifying, and she wouldn't do that to anyone even if she believed she could. Which she couldn't, and that wasn't a sort of power she wanted to have. "Pretty decent. I can't do like...seven point oh magnitude ones or anything. Now I'm working on stone manipulation." It was probably one of the most draining things she'd ever experienced, but it was exciting all the same to develop a new power like that. She wanted to get stronger. "You'll experience the joys of stamina training eventually." In those good ol' college years. That is, if Annabel planned to go to college. It was still a bit too soon to be thinking about that, she being only a freshman.
Nell held a hand over her heart, mocking offense, an egg in her hand as she had gone to pull it out of the fridge. "Forgot food?" she said, trying to keep the smile from twitching to her lips. "You're as bad as your brother, ay dios..." The last part was mumbled under her breath, as what usually happened when she lapsed into Spanglish. Nell shook her head. "Doesn't sound like fun. Unless I'm one of those skeletons in the movies that dance around. But still...no food." She knew she wouldn't be able to keep her tongue, tastebuds, and stomach which would be the main things she'd want to have on her at all times. "Fried it is. Easiest ones to make." She could make Eggs Benedict and any kind of omelet, but there was something about simplicity she enjoyed. Seeing Annabel put the bacon on and watching it simmer as she cracked the eggs on the counter made her remember something. "What do you think Josh feels about pigs?" she asked, holding the egg over the skillet and watching the white and yolk pour in. She checked to make sure the temperature was right before cracking more.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 11, 2012 15:09:29 GMT -5
Annabel thought about that for a moment. The cats were used to the expensive stuff and even the occasional real meats and fish whenever they had leftovers but she wondered if any of them would be interested in brain matter. The thought grossed her out but she couldn't stop considering it anyway. "Maybe Chester," she said, speaking of the bashed up ginger tabby. "He'll eat anything." Josh had told her that he was a stray and he had all the battle-scars of being one. Belle supposed that he was used to eating from the garbage and all that so brains were probably right up his alley. So gross. Annabel nodded. "Real babies are cute, too." All babies were 'real' but she was indicating human children with this sentence. "Except when they cry. That's really annoying." She made a face, remembering her friend's little brother. He cried constantly even when there didn't seem to be a reason for it and it was really, really bothersome. "I guess so," she said thoughtfully when Nell mentioned going to Russia, nodding. "I haven't been too far from home." They'd went around Canada and all that but she didn't have a passport to get out of the country yet. "That doesn't sound nice. I don't like when winter gets too long, I can't imagine how bad it'd be if it were the whole year." She made a face at the thought. Annabel liked sledding and snowball fights and snow and all that good stuff but she also liked the sun and summer. She didn't think she could cope with constant cold.
Unsurprisingly, Annabel had played all of the Pokemon games that were out there. If there were multiple versions such as Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, she owned them all and had two Gameboys so that she could trade between them and play out to see all of the differences. The originals held a special place, though, because it was always cool to play the first games in a franchise and witness how it had all began, how things had grown. She had a special attachment to games. She played and enjoyed them all no matter how bad the graphics. As long as they had decent gameplay (and sometimes even if they didn't) she was all over that. "Just hope he doesn't Flamethrower you or anything." She didn't think Josh would attack Nell. She'd never seen them argue, let alone get physical in their fighting, but then again that could be like how her parents had always tried to hide their spats from her. "Ooh, stone manipulation sounds really cool," she said. "You could make a fortress or something and nothing could touch you!" As long as you left room to breathe, of course. Maybe an opening to the sky, so long as your opponent wasn't water and couldn't fill up your walls and drown you. Scary thought. "Stamina training, huh? I'm guessing it's really hard in college." The thought seemed to worry her for only a moment before she grinned. "Bet I'll do fine, though." She had confidence in herself at least.
She laughed and shook her head. "Not nearly as bad as Josh!" She was mostly poking fun at her big brother but really she wasn't quite as forgetful as him. Then again, Annabel tended to bring food with her when she went up into her room to play video games and she'd eat while she was re-spawning or during the loading screens. Or she'd take a little break during rounds to go down and raid the fridge. She looked up at Nell when the Earth elemental asked the question, then back down at the bacon doubtfully. She hadn't yet realised what this was leading to and so she figured that Nell was asking about the bacon. "Um. He doesn't like eating them, I know that?" The laugh that brushed past her lips was soft, her tone uncertain and phrased more as a question than anything else. It was pretty obvious that Nell had befuddled her. "Why?" She didn't know her brother's opinions on a lot of things. She figured it would be best to ask the man himself but the click of the garage door closing suggested that he was heading out to work right about then and it probably wouldn't be a good idea for Annabel to go and ask him. While the bacon was sizzling on the pan, Annabel checked the fridge to see what they had to drink, resisting the urge to hang off the door. It was tempting but she knew the owners of said fridge would not approve. "So how's your car doing, Nell?" She asked this out of curiosity, knowing that Nell had a car that she was working on but not knowing much more than that.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 11, 2012 21:25:12 GMT -5
She had to agree with the Chester deal, though she didn't think she actually wanted the cat to be eating brains. That could not be healthy whatsoever. "C'mon, even the screaming ones are cute." She just loved things that are smaller than her. Or younger. And babies were both of those things. "Their vomit isn't very cute, though." She hadn't had to deal with that when working at the daycare since she took care of some of the older children, but that was a part of the package that was not so nice. It didn't really bother her to do such a thing, but anyone would be happy to do without it. Nell believed she had an unquenchable wanderlust, she wanted to be everywhere. It might have been because it had been so forbidden to her before, that now she had unlocked the world it was hers to explore. "Snow all year long is horrible. Bad enough how winters get like here. In New York they're pretty intense, too." Those were really the only two places she could speak surely about when it came to winter. She remembered New York, spending most of her time curled up in an afghan, far away from any windows that might be letting in drafts. Central heat had been a luxury she and her mother could not afford.
Nell scrunched her nose up as if imagining a flamethrower retaliation. She didn't fear fire, never had in her life because it had always been a good thing to her, but she didn't like to be attacked with it. Unfortunately, it happened often enough. "Earthquake. Best attack there ever was." It was, in her opinion, the best move out there. Her Golem was what she imagined she'd be in a Pokemon game. Except less angry looking. And round. Okay, maybe she'd be round. She couldn't really imagine herself as a Pokemon. Nell tilted her head as Annabel spoke. That was a very good idea. "That'll be my goal for when I graduate. I can make a secret super villain lair. Like Cobra commander." She didn't want to be a super villain, but they were the ones with the super cool lairs. She thought she could make one, just filled with food and board games. "It's difficult. Way more intense than high school, but I think high school prepares you for that." Unfortunately she missed out on all that. She didn't think anymore about it. "Course you'll do great at it. You're Annabel Dale, awesome personified." She rolled her eyes like that wasn't even a question to consider. In her mind, it wasn't.
It was obvious that Annabel was not clear on what she'd meant, and the Earth girl didn't blame her, wore a wry little smile on her lips. Nell figured that she should have given a little more background on the pig thing, but she was not one to give an introduction to things like that. She forgot that Annabel was not on the same wavelength as her. "Yeah," she said, a chuckle lacing the word. "No, I mean like a pet. Not a big one, though. A teacup." They didn't get very big, not like one that you might see on a farm. Those got pretty big, as far as she knew. She'd never been to a farm, but it was a place she might want to go to someday. She liked animals, and a farm was a congregation of them. For now, she'd settle on a pig. If Josh wanted a pig around. She'd have to take that up with him, considering they had five cats and birds flying around. He already seemed okay with making their home a zoo, so why not? However, he was already gone so she figured it'd be a question for a later date. Nell's eyes brightened considerably at the question, the inner fangirl turned on. "She's coming along pretty well. Just got a few new parts for her I need to put in. In about a year and a half, Harper will have some competition in the sexy car department." Harper was definitely more sleek and stylish, so she'd have to say Lucille would be...the tough one. Sexy in a macho way.
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Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Jun 11, 2012 22:04:17 GMT -5
She was very stubborn and set in her ways once she had an opinion on something. Did she have an opinion on screaming children? Yes, yes she did. "Ew, no. You're on your own there, sis. I hate it when they scream and stuff." She wasn't the best with kids when they started screaming, crying, whining, complaining, or really doing anything other than being cute and all that good stuff. She did well with kids when they were behaved. That was the only time. I should never be a mother. It was a sarcastic thought. Probably for the best. She actually did want to be a mom some day, though, but since she was only thirteen she didn't think about it much. "Vomit is so gross. Doesn't matter whose it is. Especially when it's the cats' and you step in it and... eugh, just no." She said this quickly as a sort of rambling rant and then shook her head at the end. Clearly she had very strong feelings about cat sick and stepping in it. After the first time you'd hope it would be the last but apparently life had different plans for her. "Yeah, it kills all your plants and stuff, right Nell? I mean you could keep 'em alive but I think people would notice." Nell and Josh weren't the sorts of recluses that would never have people in the house and it was rather hard to miss the garden in the backyard. Mansions were filled with flashy things and they had a freakin' maze. Coolest thing ever. But it would look really weird to have flowers in full bloom when it was the middle of winter. It was sad, really, because Annabel admired Nell's earthen gift.
Then, as an afterthought, she said, "I've never been to New York." She knew that Nell was from there because of her accent and all that but she was blissfully oblivious to all of the horrible things that Nell had suffered in her childhood home growing up with a sick sister and a mentally ill mother. So she didn't think much of asking, "Is it nice there?" She'd heard good and bad things about New York and so she would let one of its locals give her an opinion. Even if that 'local' was from the Bronx and that really wasn't the finest place in NY. Annabel didn't know the whole story, her innocence shone through with the question. "No, no," Annabel argued when Nell said that Earthquake was the best attack ever. That was not going to fly. This was a serious matter, y'know, Pokemon attacks and shit. "Tri-attack is super cool." She always liked watching for the sexily animated attacks and tri-attack had three types of attack in one go. That was cool. She also liked Psychic because psychic Pokemon were some of her favourites. Hypno looked so silly that she just had to love him. Derpmon. "Just don't accidentally pass out and let it collapse on you. Because that wouldn't be good." Though she was kidding, that was a legitimate thing that could be feared. No one wanted to be crushed to death, she didn't think. Annabel wasn't overly afraid of suffocation deaths, being buried alive, drowned, hit by lightning, none of those things. She guessed she feared death in a way since she didn't want to die but she wasn't really scared of it in the sense that it affected her life. So long as she didn't get sick, she was chill.
A part of her hated the idea of things that weren't video games being difficult. She didn't want to have to take too much time away from her friends and her games to study. The rest of her welcomed it because it was a challenge. She grinned when Nell acknowledged her awesomeness, mock-bowing. "A pet pig? You can do that?" She figured that teacup just meant small because her friend had a teacup Chihuahua and those were really precious and adorable. Small things were cute for some reason. Not that big dogs weren't amazing but the little ones just made her squeal and melt inside. She did like that she could rough-house with bigger dogs, though. It was a tie. Pigs, though... well, she didn't know you could keep them as pets. It was new to her. "I mean I dunno. Guess you should ask. We have a lot of pets but we have a lot of... house, too. Space." She shrugged. Pigs were cute. Piglets, like, and she guessed that a small adult pig would be like a big piglet, right? Or something. The mansion was turning into a menagerie but that was totally fine with Belle. She liked animals a whole lot. "Wish I could drive," she said when Nell mentioned Harper and Lucille. She wanted an awesome car with an awesome name and a reputation for being sexy. "I think if I tried I'd get into an accident." She made a face. Accidents were not fun, no. She didn't want to die so young. "Guh, bacon smells so good," she remarked. It was one of the best smells on earth, in her opinion.
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