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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 2, 2011 18:26:39 GMT -5
No one could say that Nell wasn’t a hard-worker. She had tenacity, that’s for sure. Which is why she set to her work with ardor, even though she was so unused to formal education. Not only was she a fish out of water in the country, but also the classroom. She’d been tutored by her father in the early part of her life, he taught her both the English and Spanish languages and other basics she needed to know to make it. But then he left, and her mother couldn’t afford tutors and she’d sneak out to the library, but that was mostly to research cures for Tilly. Naïve it had been, because no one even knew what was afflicting the girl. But there’d been so much hope in those times.
As the class had ended and the students now chatted among themselves, a girl she just met turned to her as Nell had just begun folding a paper crane. “How’d you learn how to make those?” Nell smiled broadly. ”I can’t even remember.” After finishing the newest addition to her collection, she handed it to her peer and said with a wink, ”Only 999 more to go for a wish!” The students evacuated soon after with the bell. Nell sighed as she leaned back in her chair, blowing strands of hair out of her eyes and watching as they hovered above her forehead before they dropped back down over her eyes. Nell took out another square piece of paper to fold. She couldn’t complain about the workload, because it was the best opportunity she’d ever been offered. And if taking supplementary classes meant staying in this place she considered to be a haven, she accepted such with open arms. Plus, she did love to learn, being a naturally curious person. She was in the world now with brand new eyes, and it would be even more exhilarating if it weren’t for the stress. She could try to pretend that her life was free of problems to try and enjoy herself, but they always came back to her.
She looked down at the paper crane she had folded. 820. Her sister died when they were at seven-hundred of them, and Nell had started to make them again now she was relative safe, with a box in her apartment full of folded birds, each with varying colors. What would she wish for now? Everyone else’s health, she supposed. Previously it had just been for her sister’s, but it was not possible anymore. Nell tried not to think of bad things when her thoughts lingered on Tilly, because she had been the only person good to her for years. Nell carefully folded the crane so that she could slide it into her bag without it being crinkled, and felt something else inside her folder, pulling out a pressed flower. Oh right. Nell was determined to gain more control over her powers, and so she’d taken to practice even in small spaces of time. And it was one such occasion as she pinched the stem of the flower and the colors became vibrant again as if she’d just picked it, and the stem grew to wrap around her middle finger, traveling down to form a bracelet around her wrist.
Little things like this satisfied Nell, and she smiled brightly as she stood to leave the classroom. Her classes were done for the day, so she was off in search of adventure. She didn’t know where she would go, but she was going to make it worthwhile. So, Nell headed out of the double doors of the academy and emerged onto the lawn with a thin coating of snow over it. She didn’t particularly dislike the snow, but it did weaken her powers quite a bit. When she looked down at her right hand she noticed the blue leaves already crinkling on the edges as if trying to escape the cold. Nell shivered a bit, wishing she’d have thought to bring a scarf instead of just a sweatshirt over her usual leggings. She decided to take shelter under one of the trees out in front of the school, its leaves all gone and its branches bare to the unrelenting snow. When she approached it, she touched her hand to the bark, seeing if she could make anything grow from the branches. No such luck. Nell did notice a few buds, but nothing more.
Looking around to see if anyone was watching, Nell started to ascend the tree, hoping she wasn’t breaking any rules by doing so. That was definitely not something she needed. The academy was already on her as is, she didn’t need a detention or suspension. She was basically on academic probation in so many words. As she reached a sturdy branch, she scooted over to perch on it, legs swinging as she observed the school grounds below, a few wandering students here and there. Nell liked to watch the motions of life just like she had from her window when she was younger, but now she could actually experience it. The thought brought a smile to her face.
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Post by marci2 on Jun 2, 2011 20:19:22 GMT -5
Cyn sighed with relief when the bells tolled to signal the end of clash. Her shoulders drooped, head bent forward for the briefest moment as she took a little respite before putting up the same assured air as she always did. Today had been hard for her, as she had forgotten about a project due until the last night and stayed up all night doing it. So her patience was thin, her temper was shot, and the big purple bags under her eyes were only just barely concealable under her make-up. Many people, even her own poor thunder people, had been on the wrong end of her sharp tongue today. She'd have to remember exactly who she'd snapped at so she could decide whether or not to apologize later. She really did feel bad about that poor thunder freshman.
The young woman start piling her books into her satchel, taking her sweet time while the teacher looked at her pointed at the door. Wanted her to get out so he could clean up and leave, probably. Everyone else had made their way out while she was taking the deep, cleansing breath. Cyn shot him a sweet smile as she pulled herself up from her seat and shouldered the satchel. Even though the thunder student had liked her enough to vote her thunder leader, many of the teacher could still remember her first year here. She'd been a wild one, avoiding all things that smelled of authority or rules like the plague. She'd be loud in detention, not listen to the teachers, almost flunk out of her classes.... Damn, she'd been a bad kid.
Still was, really. Cynthia allowed herself a devious smirk. She was just different bad. More likely to send a freshman water student crying from a room with her words than her fists, now. It was even a little more satisfying, now. 'Cause she had to be clever and read their raw spots.
The senior strode from the classroom, suppressing a shiver as she was met with the cold of the hallway. Fire students in the class would slowly add their heat to the classroom until everyone had forgotten it was actually freezing everywhere else by the end of the class. Nevertheless, Cyn braved the great outdoors, meaning to catch a few meager rays of sunlight before she went in for the last bit of dinner. She didn't eat much dinner, preferring to eat more earlier in the day.
She trudged through the snow, face angled upward. For a little while she ambled with her eyes closed, just enjoying the peace and freedom. Then she started drawing the static electricity from the dry winter air to her fingers, letting the tingling sensation warm them a bit before she sent the tiny amount of electricity at the snow covered ground. It pittered out without a sound, but there was a rather amusing hole in the snow left behind, with vapors of rapidly warmed water rising a few inches and then vanishing. She did this a few more times, unable to decide whether she liked it because it warmed her fingers or because it left a funny trail of holes in the ground. Maybe both.
She was just getting bored with this when she caught sight of a girl climbing a tree. Cyn recognized it as one of the earth girls, though she didn't know her name. As her feet carried her in a long arc that would eventually land her behind the girl in the tree, Cyn chuckled to herself. This was a really great moment. Didn't matter that the other girl could take her in a fight. Earth's were soft, and just let every other instance go. Only a fifty-fifty chance she'd get attacked. Besides, there were fire kids aplenty outside today, considering they never felt the sting of the cold. When she reached her desired destination, Cyn mumbled to herself under her breath.
”Eeeny meeny miney moe....Huh.” She raised her eyebrows innocently, pointed at the girl, and sent a light electric shock at the girl's behind. Not enough to injure or burn, but definitely enough to be uncomfortable.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 3, 2011 5:20:52 GMT -5
Nell didn’t notice when the girl situated herself behind her on the ground, just kept observing everything going on in front of her. She obliviously watched the students walking past, adjusted the floral hand-decoration she'd created. It didn't enter her mind that she might have been creeped on. Her thoughts were focused on the amounts of schoolwork she had, what she'd make for dinner tonight, the fact that today might be the day her Monte Carlo dies. All these thoughts didn't matter, though, as she felt a sudden shock travel through her system.
”¡Dios mío!” Nell gasped in surprise. It was only a slight discomfort but she hadn't expected to be shocked up in a tree, and therefore it was quite a bit more distressing. Nell looked down to see a girl wearing a ‘little ol’ me?’ expression on her face, and figured she must be the same age as herself. And a thunder elemental apparently. She only new of Thunder because of her grandparents--apparently they were enemies to both water and earth elementals. Which is part of the reason why the Fuentes clan detested Nell so. But she couldn't really see why they had to be enemies, didn't see the lines dividing everyone.
Nell lifted her eyebrow quizzically. ”Is there something I can help you with?” More or less her version of 'What's your dealio?' She felt like she should know this girl, as she seemed vaguely familiar, but since the Earth girl was so new she had only met so many people.
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Post by marci2 on Jun 3, 2011 8:25:14 GMT -5
The thunder leader pouted for a second while the other girl was caught up in the confusion; she had been hoping the girl would fall out of the tree. Or at least slip and almost fall, because that had people around laughing more, not being worried that she might be injured. But she supposed she'd underestimated this girl's natural strengths against thunder. Oh well. The scream had been pretty amusing. Cynthia had her innocent expression back on her face by the time her target had turned around to look at her, though an extremely mischievous light hovered in her eyes.
It seemed this time was one of the many times that the other side did not retaliate. Helpful, but also a little disappointing. Cyn knew that earth kids didn't have as much ability during the winter, and she was a little curious to see whether it would be enough to put an earth and a thunder on equal ground. Oh well. Some other time. Cyn put a small smile on while she waited for the girl to do something, but she didn't have to wait long. The polite and patient question almost set Cyn to laughing. What was wrong with these people?
”Yes, actually.” She said, ”I know you love trees and they're your friends and all, but you are not a flower, and your feeble attempt at adorning this poor tree has only made it look worse and added to it your marked lack of style.” She leaned to the side, jutting out a hip and crossing her arms. Her eyes swept over this girl haughtily, until they met her eyes again and she smiled sweetly.
”You can go back into your wilderness and have tea with your trees there, but here you're just a blot on the scenery that I'm pretty sure most people don't want to have to see.” Then a sort of apologetic grimace crossed her features, and her shoulders rose a few inches in a noncommittal shrug. ”I was hoping I could spare you all that and just knock you out of the tree. But since you clung on you put yourself in this position. I could shock again if you want? Maybe we could forget I had to say all that...nasty stuff?”
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 3, 2011 20:24:25 GMT -5
Nell almost laughed when the other girl spoke. She'd built a tough skin against insults, they phased through her rather quickly. There were only certain things that got her goat, and even then she had about zero temper. When you’d lived with a psychopath like her mother all your life, not many things tend to bother you. But it wasn’t like she didn’t have pride, and she’d most definitely stick up for herself. "Ooh, that wounds,” she said dryly, not climbing down from her perch. Really, this chick would have to do better than telling her that she didn’t make a good flower. No, that didn’t even bother Nell. The girl’s posture was all sass, but she smiled oh so charmingly at Nell. ”I think I just may run home and cry now.” She leaned back on the branch showing that it was the last thing on her mind.
In a show of defiance, Nell swung her legs back and forth, gazing down with her eyebrow still raised. She wasn't going to climb down just because this girl was especially antagonistic. Nell didn't even know her, and she was already insulting her. And even though she hated confrontation, she had pride—not like she was going to lie down and bare her belly to the enemy. What was she going to say, “let’s all be friends?” Thunder people were naturally standoffish, not quite as temperamental as the Fire elementals as far as she’d seen. Her grandparents were assholes, really, calm demeanor and biting words. Their main goal was ‘revenge’ against their granddaughter, which she thought ridiculous. Still, it meant them and her Aunt Jane were now working toward the same goal. She wondered if they had teamed up in an ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ deal, but she didn’t want to think of that.
Nell watched the girl lift her shoulders slightly, keeping her face neutral and showing that she wasn’t about to move. What did this chick expect, for the Earth girl to run off crying all the way home? Nell Doe Shepherd did not cry, not anymore. Emotions like sadness and regret were on lockdown inside of her, and she was not about to break down her defenses just because someone called her ugly. Nell barely even took notice of the words.
”No, I have a better idea,” Nell said when the Thunder girl finished, tapping her chin with a finger as if in thought. ”How about you kiss my ass and walk on by? No one is telling you to look at me if you’re so displeased by my appearance. Why don’t you save yourself the trouble and go along your merry way?” All right, that was a little snarkier than she had intended, but her defense mechanisms were strong. She hated being like that though, hated being mean. But how else was she going to protect herself? She wasn’t going to let this Thunder chick pick on her just because she thought her element made her a pushover.
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Post by marci2 on Jun 5, 2011 22:38:39 GMT -5
Cyn's eyes widened, mock horror on her face. One of her hands flew to her face, and she gasped out, ”Oh, sarcasm!” Then all acting left her face, a very haughty gaze left over as she chuckled at the little earth girl. ”That's never been used before. Where did you learn your comebacks, girl? Don't tell me your mother taught you that. Bad form. Really, you should have met mine—she was so well versed in the art of gripping your heart and twisting it out.” A touch of bitterness entered her voice, but it would take a discerning listener to make it out under all the greater-than-thou and stuck-up confidence that the thunder leader exuded.
The young woman watched with a raised brow as this girl turned about on the branch and swung her legs pointedly. Cyn could already tell that while this girl was standing up for herself, she was being surprisingly passive about it. Apparently this girl had both a backbone and an enormous amount of patience at the same time. While this gave Cyn the chance to banter for a very long time without worrying about really getting attacked, it also faced her with an annoying reality that she probably wouldn't be able to crack this girl. It would probably end up as a draw with them both going their separate ways.
Always up for a challenge, Cynthia set her feet squarely in the snow, rolling her head from side to side as the girl talked. She almost snorted when she said to kiss her ass. ”Now now, there's no need to get unpleasant.” Cynthia said, smiling again and gesturing vaguely. ”I was only telling you the truth. You'd prefer that to a fire student burning you out of the tree, right? Look at the bright side.” Not that that would happen. Cynthia was pretty sure that wasn't a student on campus that would openly do something like that in the middle of the day within campus. Maybe at night in a dark alley, but that was entirely different.
Cyn shook her head patronizingly, ”No no, it's not you. It's your clothes. To put it as delicately as I can bring myself....” Cyn paused as if she was trying to find a nicer term then she one she was thinking. Then she shrugged, ”They suck. Honestly, you could look very pretty if you had fashion sense. But that's not your fault, is it? No, it's the fact that you've got no money, or your parents have no money, or maybe you actually don't have an ounce of sense in your head.” Cyn kept a sharp eyes on the girl, watching every little movement and expression, trying to find out if something she was saying actually had any effect. She'd just end up running her mouth vainly if she didn't find anything that touched a nerve.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 6, 2011 10:22:42 GMT -5
Nell knew by the look on the other girl’s face that she should have walked away by now. But she refused to turn her back. That was cowardice, and she wasn’t a coward. With a slight grimace, Nell remembered one of her aunt’s words when the two spoke in the hospital. If you do run, you’ll be just like your father, no? Unsurprising that you’d take your cowardice from him. Aunt Jane had predicted what Nell would do. Now that was a woman who knew how to tick Nell off. So when the Earth girl thought of this as the chick below her touched her hands to her face, eyes wide and retorting with her own method of sarcasm, Nell kept her face placid. ”Ah, sarcasm not working for you? Too bad.” She arched an eyebrow at the other Thunder girl’s words, her prideful voice floating up to where Nell sat in the tree. “That’s cool,” she deadpanned when the girl used her mother to mock her, though there was something else in the Thunder student's voice that Nell didn't quite get. Her own mother didn’t need sarcasm—she had her hands and belts and a kitchen knife.
What was this chick going to do? Stand there and rag on her? All Nell wanted was a little break, but no. ‘Course not. This girl had to strut in with her confidence and poise and start verbally abusing her. Awesome. What would it take to get her to go away without running away herself? Nell wasn’t made for arguments or fights, she just didn’t know how to do it. It wasn’t in her nature to go about fighting other people, whether they were natural enemies like she was with this Thunder girl or not. The first time she had to think about such things was when she came to the Academy—she had been hoping that she could leave her enemies back in America, but no, she already had them here without even doing anything.
With the chick’s snort, Nell knew her words had no effect. It was the first time she ever tried cursing as a defense, anyway. ”You’re completely right. Wow, I never thought of it that way,” Nell said with false brightness, ending the statement with a giggle. Still, I think you should kiss my ass. Then she remembered that sarcasm really wasn’t going to work, but that was really all she had. She used it against her family, all the while studying them intently. She certainly wasn’t one to throw punches, and so this was the next best thing. Still, the Thunder girl’s words passed right through her like a specter.
Did Nell really expect this chick to leave after what she said? No, not really. It was worth a try, though. And now she knew this chick was just digging for a response, trying to find Nell’s trigger. Insulting her fashion sense? Not it. Was the Thunder student going to keep trying until she found something that gained a reaction other than sardonicism? The chick seemed pretty persistent, Nell wouldn’t put it above her. They suck. Well, whoopdedoo, so does her apartment and her car and her job. It’s not like she grew up in the lap of luxury. ”My clothes…” Nell murmured as if contemplating. Then she nodded. ”I choose the latter—definitely the lack of sense.” Ho would Miss Thunder respond to that?
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Post by marci2 on Jun 6, 2011 11:37:57 GMT -5
It was subtle, but it was there. There was a difference in tone, a lack of a comeback, a soft of withdrawal when Cynthia mentioned the girl's mother. It seemed defensive, though it could also have been that the girl thought what she'd said was so lame that is deserved no retort. But the thunder student doubted that, because of the fearless readiness to talk back on all other fronts. Honestly, what Cyn had said about her mother had been much better than what she'd said about fashion sense. Her smile grew wider, but she tucked this little possibility in the back of her mind for now.
Unfortunately, everything this girl said was deflective. It left little opening for Cyn to get in there and take a whack at something. Her good humor left her for the briefest second, revealing itself in a short sigh and a hooded gaze at the girl before she shook her head a bit and resumed her previous posture. If it didn't get any better in the next few minutes she'd call it lost, but she still had a card up her sleeve, and she wouldn't leave until she'd figured out whether it would work or not. Tilting her head, Cyn nodded sympathetically. ”Well, admitting you've got a problem is half the battle. Like some disease of the mind or something like that. It's hard to fix when you're in denial.”
She waited a few seconds, staring the girl down as she tried to figure out exactly how she wanted to use this card. If she spoke too much there was a chance the girl would have built up her defenses by the time Cyn hit the right mark. So she smiled, pulling some more static toward her fingers to warm up her hands. She moved her hands idly, almost rolling the electricity from finger to finger as the considered the girl. Finally, she shook her head again.
”Mother was bad with fashion, too, was she? What else was she bad at? Did she get you to bed on time? Show you love and affection? Did she nurture you to make sure you grew up as healthy and happy and sane as everyone else?” It was a long shot, Cynthia had recognized something in the girl's earlier reaction. The thunder leader was well versed in problems with family, especially parents. Most people had some sort of a qualm with the way they had been treated as kids. Without meaning to, Cyn found herself muttering audibly, a bitterness to her tone that told of anger and envy, ”I bet your father was great, too. Probably made you feel safe and wanted.”
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 6, 2011 13:57:39 GMT -5
Nell noticed she might have let something slip through when the Thunder girl’s smile widened, and she inwardly damned herself for it. She thought she had built up better defenses against such a thing. Well crap. She inwardly sighed. Hopefully this wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass. She seriously didn’t want to deal with this chick, but the Thunder girl was persistent. Nell didn’t even know her name, for God’s sake, why did this girl spend so much energy on screwing with a little anonymous Earth student? Surely she had much better things to do with her time.
Something in Miss Thunder’s expression changed, but she quickly regained composure. Nell watched her carefully, wondering what she’d do next. The Earth girl had to resist rolling her eyes at the girl’s next statement. ”Yeah…” she said slowly. Really, she saw no point in this anymore. It was barely Nell defending herself now, it was her trying to figure out what was up with this chick. Didn’t she see that Nell was basically walnut. Okay, weird comparison, but it was nearly impossible to crack her shell. But Thunder chick was sure determined in going on about it. At least that much was admirable.
Nell watched the electricity between the girl’s fingers warily, knowing if she chose to zap the Earth girl she’d be screwed. Her gaze was quite guarded as she observed the other girl, but it became a bit confused as she went on about her mother, how she must have been kind and loving and exactly what was this chick getting at? Ah. She must have let something slip when the girl talked about her mother. She didn’t know how to respond to this, honestly. It didn’t offend her. Why should it? Of course, this girl was assuming things about her life, but who cared what she even thought?
”Yeah, and the world is filled with butterflies and rainbows. Your point?” If she was trying to get a reaction by stating things about Nell’s life that weren’t true, she wasn’t doing too good a job. But then, she switched to her father, and the girl’s voice took on a different tone. Daddy problems, huh? But she wasn’t about to use that against her. Nell was very unlike this girl. She wasn’t going to defend herself by twisting something she merely assumed to be and using it against another person. That was simply cruel. And that was exactly what Miss Thunder was trying to do. ”I really don’t see why you’re going about assuming things about my family. It’s not like I care what you think.” These words were spoken without an ounce of sarcasm, they were simply exhausted.
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Post by marci2 on Jun 7, 2011 10:07:43 GMT -5
Well, that was it. Defeat. The thought made Cyn's blood boil, but she held back the scowl in favor of an extremely disapproving glare at the girl. She had never met anyone with such a thick wall in her life, and it was exquisitely annoying. She took in a deep breath, shaking her head slowly for a second before looking back up at the girl. ”I swear, if you weren't earth I'd zap you right now.” It wasn't said with any real ire, but there was something in her tone that spoke of a vendetta. Cyn would like nothing more than to rile this girl up into actually doing something against her, so that would now be her goal whenever that girl was around.
She kept her voice calm as she answered, ”Ugly, demented, and boring. But I'll give you this—you're impressive. I am neither butterfly nor rainbow, though don't you expect me just flutter away and not come back.” She smiled sweetly at the girl, ”You will be a wonderful challenge.” She would be. If Cyn hadn't gotten some sort of reaction out of this girl by the end of her senior year she would probably just send lightning at the girl in rage. Never mind it was an earth student. It would be worth it, and she wouldn't have to worry about losing her position as thunder leader at that point either.
Adjusting the satchel on her shoulder, Cyn waved at the girl and started walking away. She ignored the last part of what she said, not really seeing any reason to respond to it. Electricity was still zapping from fingertip to fingertip, and the thunder girl watched in for several moments as she walked away, not quite able to make up her mind. While it would be so satisfying to just electrocute the girl, it probably wouldn't be worth it. Finally, she closed her fist, sending the stored up energy into the snow before going back inside. Maybe she could find a water freshman to have fun with.
((Well, as disappointed as I am to have such a short thread, Nell just totally beat Cyn. Nothing else she would do, really. xD))
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