YOU MAKE ME SICK! (tagged: emilia!)

Reading the medical dictionary was very difficult. It seemed that every few pages, Joshua came across something which reminded him of long nights spent at home asking his father to tell him stories about his work and the people he had cured. When he was little Donovan used to tell him about the nice stories to do with saving lives and making families happy, Josh going to sleep with a smile on his face as he pictured his Dad being the hero he'd always thought of him as. As he grew older, however, Donovan realised that his son could handle the cruel reality of a doctor's work and had started to tell him things about the patients with critical illnesses or worse, terminal ones. He would tell Josh all about the treatment process and he'd keep him updated on which things worked and which didn't. He'd always been curious as to why his son liked listening to such things, to which Joshua had simply responded, 'It's very interesting.' And so it had been. He was going into medicine (possibly) more for the fact that it fascinated him rather than gave him a desire to cure people. Medicine was a field that was never set in stone--there were always new diseases, new cures, new puzzles and challenges to overcome.

It's perfect for a guy like me, he thought as he slowly flipped the page. Even though his eyes scanned the page and he was taking in the text which he read, however, his mind still kept wandering whenever he came across a familiar term. I wonder if he ever misses the hands on work? As Chief of Staff, Donovan now dealt much more with the business side of his job. When he'd first been promoted he'd laughed it off and said that it would be one less headache a week, but Josh was still curious. He didn't have the sort of relationship with his father that allowed him to ask such things so freely, however. They had a few days when they were both in good moods, and that was usually when Donovan would oblige to fill him in of the goings on at the hospital. Most of the time, however, there was too much tension to speak freely. Joshua was the delinquent son and Donovan was the angry father, not much room for leeway there.

Though he was distracted by his reading and his thoughts, Joshua saw someone closing in from the corner of his eye. Instantly he tensed, a light wave of heat spreading through the room. It wasn't noticeable thanks to the fact that the Fire dormitories were always so warm, but he most definitely wasn't in the mood for company. With any luck this person was only getting close to him so that they could skirt around the chair and head in the other direction, even though that made little sense. He could tell that it was a girl and the hallway nearest the chair led off into the guys dormitories; girls were strictly disallowed. Sometimes that rule would be broken in favour of a night with their boyfriends (he'd broken it himself once or twice) but not usually when there were people about the room.

No such luck.

He glanced--or rather glared--at her for a moment when she said hello. His lips were pressed into a tight line that suggested he was not in the mood, and though she smiled at him Joshua did nothing to return the gesture. Instead he just nodded stiffly and hoped that she would take the hint and go away. Again, luck seemed to not be anywhere near his side at the moment for she continued to speak, Josh growing more irate by the second. Why the fuck can't she just leave me alone? he thought angrily. "Yes," he replied stiffly. "That's the key point, see. I'm studying medicine. It's quite difficult to do so whilst having a conversation." The hint couldn't get any more pointed than that. He didn't bother answering the question about whether he'd be going into medicine or not.

The girl had a lot of nerve to stand up to him like that, Joshua had to admit, but it didn't mean that he was going to be any more polite or friendly toward her. His gray-eyed glare only intensified as she insisted that she was trying to make friends. "Oh, are you?" he asked venomously, but it wasn't really much of a question at all. He certainly didn't allow her any time to answer as he snapped, "Because I am trying to study. I don't appreciate the interruption." He could have said it in a much nicer way or at least made his tone a bit more pleasant. It was true that he was attempting to study and that he wanted to get back to the dictionary, but there were a million more polite ways of saying things. 'Would you please allow me to read in peace?' would even have been acceptable provided it was said in a polite tone. His parents would have been ashamed. He'd been raised as a gentleman. And really, he could be the charming one if he made an attempt, but the thing was... he didn't. He hated people and they hated him, what was the point of playing nice?

How naive was this girl? Did he seem like he was in the business of making friends? "I'm sorry, are you thick?" he asked. Though 'sorry' was definitely used in the sentence, it didn't sound apologetic at all when spoken in his harsh voice. Joshua's tone could either be charming and melodic or cutting and cruel, depending on with whom he spoke. It was usually flat and toneless considering his façade, but it had strayed deep into negative territory for this conversation. "I told you that I wanted to study, not that I wanted to make friends," the boy snapped. "Take a page out of your own book and fuck off. I never asked for your company, and I'm certainly not about to start." If looks could kill the girl would have been six feet under with the last nail in her coffin from the glare he was fixing on her. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? He didn't want to make friends, he didn't want to socialise, he just wanted to be left alone!

Her confidence to some may have been considered admirable, but Joshua could only reflect on how absolutely stupid she was being. He could feel the rage steadily building, and though he tried to fight it back it would not be combated so easily. If she doesn't get the fuck away from me in the next few seconds... His left hand curled into a slow and tight fist, knuckles blanched against his fair skin. The hand was starting to tremble with the weight of his rage, a tell-tale sign that his self-control was quickly slipping. Joshua didn't have a long fuse to burn before he'd absolutely lunge at someone. In fact the fuse was almost non-existent. He grew angry at pointless things and he grew violent shortly afterwards. What was this girl thinking? Had someone dared her to come and piss him off?

"What I am studying is none of your fucking business," he said pointedly, and the anger had saturated his tone now. It was no longer snide, it was coloured outright with the anger he was trying to fight against. "I may not be a brain surgeon but I might give a shot at cutting your skull open and inserting a bit of common sense if you don't back off." Even though the threat was harsh, it was only half feinting. He wouldn't kill her for bothering him, but if she pushed just one bit further he might snap and hurt her in some other way. Did she not see that? Did she think that he was faking?

For a moment it seemed like the girl might back down, but that was wishful thinking on part of the angry teenager. Instead of backing down she continued to glare at him as if she wanted to say something snarky but couldn't find the words, or something. Joshua glared right back, hands still shaking a bit with suppressed rage. Sometimes people would sneer at you if you started to tremble with anger, assuming that it meant you were afraid to hit them for some reason, and that was always a stupid move. He shook because he was trying his damnedest not to kill something. Calling him out on this made him want to throttle you even more and usually ended in someone getting severely hurt. The Academy had often times reprimanded him for getting too violent with the other students in the school, but they refrained from expelling him because of his academics and the fact that an enraged Fire elemental banished from school just might burn the fuck out of something in revenge before they had a chance to revoke his Gift.

"Oh?" he hissed in challenge when she spoke scathingly to him, gray eyes glinting and just daring her to say something else toward him. "Like what?" Of course, he didn't take into consideration that Emilia might be stupid enough to attack him. Most people that went for him were guys that thought they could just tackle him to the ground and punch him or something, underestimating the fact that Joshua was stronger physically than he made himself out to be. He worked out to keep muscle tone and to defend himself should the gang come back. Of course, this only went so far. He wasn't overly muscular and could certainly be overpowered by someone who was. But they also seemed to forget he could just torch them, or stab them if his switchblade was in reach. And his moral compass wouldn't stop him from doing so.

When she did attack him, therefore, Josh snapped.

The fire never actually hit him, for a blast of his own power went forward to counter it, the two attacks meeting in an impressive burst of fire and flames. He could have left it at the counter and just stalked off, but the fact that she'd went for him eliminated this option. All he could feel was anger and he wanted her to pay for the fact that she'd had the audacity to attack him. The second burst of fire followed quickly after the first and wasn't aiming anywhere in particular aside from her--he didn't specify whether he was aiming for her arm, her chest, her stomach. He just attacked in a burst of hot, dangerous fire. "I thought I told you," he hissed dangerously, "to leave me the hell alone."