Fresh meat meets the grill.

This cut on his finger that he'd gotten when he'd been about to shank poor Nell outside of the bar was not healing as well as it should have, and even Josh (who wasn't normally that much of a health freak) was getting a little concerned. It stung like a bitch and it seemed to be having issues staying closed over. The Fire elemental glowered at it as he sat on the couch of the Fire dormitories, wondering if this was normal. He'd read a few of his Dad's medical books and Donovan had given him constant lectures on medically-related things, but he couldn't place his finger on whether he should be getting concerned.

Oh, how Josh missed the days when he could have just walked through the large doors of the mansion and called out to his father for aid. Donovan would scold him for being stupid enough to slice his finger open and then beckon his son into the small medical office on the main floor of the house, taking his son's hand in his expert ones and tittering over the injury. "What the hell did you do?" he'd ask, and Josh would shrug and either make something up or tell the truth. Then Donny would lecture him a second time about why whatever he'd done was as stupid as letting the injury go for so long had been, and then he'd fix him up. Even though he was nearing nineteen and thus more than capable of handling himself, he missed that sort of comfort.

Father always had alcohol swabs lying around, Joshua remembered as he applied pressure to the cut to test how much it hurt. Ah, fuck! After the blinding pain had faded, the boy frowned thoughtfully. Alcohol swabs... maybe the medical wing has some? And with that it was decided. Within ten minutes Joshua had strolled into the doors of the wing, glancing around the medical wing with his mistrustful glare. Huh. Looked like he'd have to wait before they finished with other people. Even though it was for something stupid and simple, Josh resigned himself to waiting (he really had nothing else to do) and focused his energy on trying to figure out what everyone else was suffering from.

Of the lot, the worst of the injuries belonged to a much younger boy. Joshua scoffed in amusement as he observed the burns on the boy's face. "That's why you leave us all the hell alone, freshie," he said with a bit of a smirk, flicking his wrist. Fire burst above his hand as if to indicate that by 'we' he was including all Fire elementals. He wondered who had attacked the boy and why (didn't take much, with his lot), so he asked, "The fuck'd you do, prank someone?" He wouldn't blame them for attacking him then. He hated the stupid pranks of the Water kids.

Joshua was slightly affronted by the tone the Water student took, and it showed in the way anger flashed in his medium gray eyes. "Watch your fucking words around me, freshman," he hissed. He had only asked a question, albeit a rather sneering one in a cruel tone. Josh had a temper student worse than even most of his fellow Fire students, so angering him was never the brightest nor the best of ideas. "Your kind are the most reckless and irritating idiots I've met, it's only natural to assume your injuries are the result of your own damned stupidity." He narrowed his eyes and the room started to get uncomfortably warm--a sign that his temper was reaching a volatile point.

"Hunter it is, then," he said coldly. "Fire leader's name is Alexandre, and in my opinion that's much too close. His age and his status gives him superiority over you even if the damned brat bugs me half the time." Josh and Alex had argued on a couple of occasions when Joshua got himself into trouble, broke curfews or just generally pissed off his fellow Fire elementals. But Josh wasn't like the rest of the element, he wasn't alright with being controlled. He'd been the Fire leader back in his day and he was older than Blackthorn, he had age superiority. So he said, anyway. And he was eighteen, an adult! He wasn't going to follow no stupid curfews.

He was unamused by the joking of the younger boy, still miffed by the way he'd responded earlier. "I'll burn more than your hand if you don't watch your step around me," he threatened quite seriously. And this, ladies and gentlemen, was why most people feared Joshua Dale. He was angry, he was mean, and he was dead serious. He didn't make friends and he didn't mess around--if he told you he would burn you, he just might. He probably would.

The freshman asked what he was doing in the Wing and Joshua held up his injured left hand, revealing that one of his fingers had a deep and jagged cut across it. It definitely looked painful and was badly healed--he'd slashed it open when he was drunk and had fumbled with his weapon. "Unlike you, I don't get my injuries from pissing people off," he said with a bit of a sneer. "Name's Dale. Joshua Dale." And this new kid would likely hear his name a few times over the year. He had a reputation amongst the Academy.

Joshua's lips were still pressed into a firm line as the Water freshman spoke, but he decided that he was alright as long as he didn't continue to bother him too much. Josh had temper problems of course, but there had to be at least some fuel to start the fire and mild irritation was hardly fuel enough at the given time. Maybe if he'd been in horrible mood to begin with but his mood was neutral at the moment; he hadn't been doing good or bad before he'd entered the medical wing.

He rather randomly inquired about the Water leader, Joshua furrowing his brow. "I'm not into politics," he said almost dismissively. "Not since high school--but I'm pretty sure its some guy called Jake." Sometimes the leaders changed around or didn't step up to their positions however, so the only real way to determine who was the leader was to wait until it was all confirmed. "What, did you skip freshman orientation?" Orientation was held by the leaders to give all the new kids an introduction to the school and all that. Josh remembered that there had been a lot of intimidation involved in his own five years back--the leaders had seemed to hope that scaring their new charges strait might stop them from breaking the rules.

It hadn't really.

Joshua gave a hollow laugh. "Wise plan," he said dryly. The laugh had been completely devoid of humour and emotion. "You're a freshman, fresh meat, everyone'll go after you." It was common fact in the Academy. "I don't bother with that shit." He wasn't the type to antagonise people out of nowhere. Perhaps he'd been a bit forward and snide when he'd challenged the freshman to begin with, but Josh wasn't the type to start a fight when the other person hadn't said a word to him. A lot of his fellow Fire students were, however.

"I don't even talk to the other Fire students," he said. And this much was true--other than a couple of friends, Josh was outcast both amongst his own element as well as the others. His negative reputation had spread like a cancer within even the walls of the Fire dormitory.

"I mind."

It was all he said, the sentence short and simple. Joshua did not share such things about himself, even though it was very trivial. He would show off the fact that he was one of the strongest with his powers and he would demonstrate his skill, but he never liked to share personal details about himself and his past. The freshman didn't seem like he was asking for personal benefit or anything, but Josh still wasn't going to tell him.

It wasn't like the situation had been particularly bad: Joshua had been sitting in the living room with his parents and had been wondering why the fireplace was unlit--it was cold in the living room and he hadn't liked that. Bam, fire. Some people had much more dramatic and life-threatening experiences when their powers came into being but for Josh it had been as simple as learning a new word. And he hadn't been confused, either. He'd known his parents were both Fire elementals and he'd been told stories about the Academy he'd be attending if he too was gifted.

"I'm not going to hit you for no reason," Joshua said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm twice your age, there's no point." He tended to only go off on people if they really annoyed him, or if they attacked him. Attack him and it's no holds barred.

"Read through?" Joshua rolled his eyes. "Well that was fucking stupid, congratulations." His tone was laced and dripping with sarcasm. Who read through orientation of a large and intimidating castle? Sure, it wasn't the most entertaining thing but it was very informative as they explained all of the politics and classes at the Academy. They also showed you the locations of all the ninth grade classes and they would actually take you to the class for the first couple weeks if you were really having difficulty. "I was Fire leader once--trust me, kid, you're going to regret skipping that shit once politics bite you in the ass."

Josh snorted in contempt. "You've got it written all over your face," he said, clearly indicating the burns. "Your kind are a real thorn in our side, we take it personal." An Earth student probably would have gotten a burn on the arm or something, but the facial assault had caused him to guess. "I'm a sophomore, this is my sixth year at the Academy. You pick up on shit."

Joshua cocked an eyebrow at the younger boy when he adapted an almost boasting tone. A dark chuckle brushed past his lips. He pulled the switchblade out of his pocket and flicked it out. "I was right; politics are really fucking you over, kid. Don't you know how close my element are to one another?" The blade glinted as he shifted it in his hand, catching the light. "I could give you something a little more permanent to show for hitting one of my comrades..." He trailed off dangerous, but then Joshua flicked the knife shut and pocketed it. "But I won't. Like I said, I'm not into politics. Doesn't mean shit to me--but you better watch who you go bragging that to. Any other Fire student wouldn't have hesitated to kick your ass."

It was true, the Fire students all stuck up for one another like some sort of a family. They'd jokingly been compared to a mob once--deadly family, like. But whilst Josh was part of this pseudo-family, he was not as closely integrated into it as some. His loyalties were to his own needs and feelings before he'd factor the Fire element into it. He would fight their wars with them if you asked nice enough or if it had benefit for him, but for the most part Joshua kept himself distanced from Politics. He'd been surprised when they'd elected him as leader, but it had been pretty clear why: he was tough, he was intimidating.

Joshua gave an exasperated sigh. "There are two alliances; my element's with Thunder, yours is with Earth. We can't stand one another. That's the gist of it." He shrugged. "Wind is neutral. You want the details? Bug your leader, though you should've been listening to him in the first place." The sophomore rolled his eyes, but nevertheless left it at that.

Joshua definitely noticed the fear, and it was with satisfaction that he flicked the blade shut and pocketed it. He hadn't really been planning to hurt the boy after all--he needed, however, to make a statement about how important politics were in this place. Joshua had been victimised a few times as a freshman. He'd stood up for himself and that was never a good idea. If you fought back against the older kids, they ganged up and made sure that you didn't have any fight left in you. Putting the freshmen in their place, they called it. He remembered one particular time when a bunch of the guys from his own Alliance (Fire leader included!) had beat the shit out of him for threatening them and had locked him down in one of the dungeon cells. They hadn't came to let him out for nearly a full day. It hadn't been nice.

Now that it seemed the freshman was fully convinced of how dangerous it was to fuck with the older kids, however, Joshua was a little more calm. "Shit happens. Just watch your back." He didn't really know why he was giving him advice; perhaps because he knew from experience what an awful year that first could be. Piss off the older kids and they'd always be older than you, even when you graduated high school. As long as they were good with their power, they wouldn't hesitate to put you in your place again and again. Josh had gotten lucky. Even those assholes had backed off in later years when Josh had built up his reputation.

"Most don't give a damn whether you meant it or not. Keep that in mind." Really, if Fire students took the time to analyse the things that insulted them they might not feel so upset about it in the long run. But that was the thing--they didn't take the time. You pissed one off and that was it.

Joshua blinked calmly at the freshman for a moment, almost thoughtfully. "Hold still," he said without warning, then stood up and focused his energy on the younger boy. "And don't freak the fuck out or call in the nurses or anything, I'm not going to kill you," he added as an afterthought. After he'd pretty much threatened to cut the boy up it would have made sense that this might have freaked him out as well. But Josh stayed true to his word; he didn't attack him. Instead his hands pulsed with a reddish sort of aura, as he focused his sharp gray eyes on the burns that marked Alexander's face. "What we inflict," he said slowly, "we can take away..."

It was the motto of elemental healing, and before his eyes the burns slowly faded into what appeared to be more of a sunburn than anything else. "Medical Wing's busy anyway. Might have been a while."