trust me ,, josh

It was strange, having his own element turn against him. He was so accustomed to being on his own side of the Alliance that having them hunting for him was... alien, unheard of. They had issued a sort of blacklist on any and all traitors that turned their loyalties over to Nell, so now they were out to get him as well. He didn't know whether they'd kill him or just incapacitate him if they had the chance--neither sounded very appealing, to be honest. But that didn't matter. Not to Joshua. He may not have been friends with Nell but he was very opinionated and his opinion of her would not be swayed and changed just because he felt out of place. This was just a bit too akin to how he'd felt with the gang, unfortunately. Circumstances forced him into choosing a side. He couldn't win either way, and now here he was with everyone turning on him. It was uncomfortable and just plain strange.

On the flip side, having the Earth and Water elements accept him was just as unexpected. They seemed reluctant to have the stoic and rather frightening college student amongst their ranks, but they didn't drive him off or make snide remarks about him. Instead, he acted as a sort of mercenary. He helped fight their battles with them, as well. If anything too bad with the Fire students happened, Joshua would jump in and do his best to shield the sensitive Earth kids from the fiery power. Water students were more effective thanks to their strength, but they were kept tied up with the fact that Thunder targeted them due to weakness. Joshua, at the moment, had no weaknesses against him. He had a neutrality against fire due to the fact that he was of the element, and he was strong against Thunder. But even though he had a distinct advantage, this whole thing was still an experience he hadn't decided whether he liked. He supposed he'd wait until the war ended. Once Nell either survived or fell to their clutches, he'd make his decision about this rash war of the elements. He'd never liked war, but this was something new altogether.

He wasn't yet aware that Harley had also decided to back Nell. The two were friends, but the college student was on edge and prepared to defend himself and Nell for as long as it took for the fighting to die down--against friend or foe alike. And so when she stopped in front of him, his lips pressed into a hard line and a wave of heat rippled through the hall. It was almost a warning sign, a signal that he was ready to defend himself if need be. "I don't want to fight you," he said shortly, "but if that's what I've got to do, it's tough luck for the pair of us." Gray eyes narrowed dangerously. "I've chosen my side and I don't care what you, Blackthorn, nor any of the others say or try and do to me, I'm sticking with it. Nell is innocent, this war is barbaric and unnecessary. Now unless you want me to attack you, I'd suggest you get out of the way pretty quick." He did hope that she understood it wasn't personal, at least. They'd been friends, but wars changed everything. War always changed everything. They weren't even allies any more.

Joshua felt the air get slightly hotter around them as Harley's hands started to heat up, and the older Fire student was fully prepared to get physically violent. There was the dark light of determination glittering in his gray eyes as flames started to flicker around his own hands, Joshua bringing them together to form a swirling ball of flame between his palms. He was just about to pull it back and blast it at his ex-friend when she spoke, sounding upset and offended. She apparently didn't like the idea that Joshua thought she was going to attack him, and Josh quickly made the connection that this must mean she was not on the offensive. He did not yet back down, however, suspicion still flickering in the depths of his gaze. "Oh? And how do I know that?" He didn't, really. Just like no one knew for sure that Nell had killed Cynthia.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "All of my family are in Fire," he replied. "Do you see me siding with them?" His tone was sharp and filled with an iciness that he usually didn't use around the Fire girl. But Joshua had made his choice, he'd chosen Nell over the Fire element and that was that. He still wasn't sure whether he could trust her. Sure, they were friends, but Josh was a suspicious guy. Surely Harley knew that he hardly had any friends and was as suspicious as ever? He just didn't want to make any stupid mistakes and lead an enemy straight into range of the very person he was trying to protect.

Still, after a moment longer of glaring, his jaw clenched and the fire slowly dispersed. "Our element is out to get me," he said shortly. "Siding with Nell isn't all sunshine and rainbows. For all I knew, they'd sent you as a spy or worse." Worse, as in an assassin. It seemed cruel to suspect a friend of such things, but Joshua had seen all manner of betrayals and backstabbing in the elemental wars. "You'll be taking a risk if you side with us," he said bluntly. "I've already had a target painted on my back, you could probably avoid having one on yours."

Harley was angry with him for being so suspicious, he could pick up on that right away. But even though they were friends and so perhaps he should have felt guilty for suspecting her, Joshua could not get those feelings to spawn in his mind. He was looking out for himself, he was protecting himself... and he was protecting Nell. He had to make absolutely sure of everything. People whom he'd thought he still at least got along with had turned on him in the space of a day. So even Harley had been subjected to his momentary distrust. The fact that she was taking it personal irritated him. "It's hard to trust when your own allies turn against you," he snapped, anger glittering in his gray eyes. Did she want to fight with him? Oh, he'd show her a fight! But then he mentally kicked himself.

Stupid temper problems and the stupid other problems they created. The entire hall was now sweltering, his anger personified in the waves of heat that spread outward. He couldn't help that his anger was being fuelled, but he was going to try and stop it from getting out of hand. With obvious and tremendous effort, he scowled, clenched his jaw, and (sort of) relaxed. Fine. Fine. He'd accept the fact that Harley was alright. The heat started to dissipated just as the fire had done. Not that it would have really bothered Harley much--they were both Fire students, after all.

She brought up her family and this actually pissed him off even more, completely ruining the efforts of 'calming down'. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, gray eyes smouldering with rage. "So my family doesn't fucking matter to me any more, huh? Is that it? Is that what you're trying to say?" The reaction might have been unexpected, but family was still a sensitive subject with Joshua. He'd never told her much about his parents--hell, he hadn't even told Harley he had a sister. All she knew was that they were Fire elementals, like him. Unless she watched the news; his mother was on the news a lot, speaking out at events and doing the normal politician crap. Not to mention all the scandals involving her delinquent son. Fun, that was. "Just because I didn't end up as the opposite of their fucking power doesn't mean that my loyalty to them is any god damned different!"

Jesus Christ, it was hard to think past all of this rage. Harley knew what he was like from their being friends over the years, but even though he got angry at her sometimes he'd never really went off on a tangent like this. Needing some way to vent before he was tempted to attack her, he punched the nearby wall instead. Son of a bitch! Pain exploded and he pulled it back, gritting his teeth so tight that the only thing that escaped was a slight hiss of irritation. Breathing hard, the agony at least stopped him from going off on his friend. Glaring at her, he said, "Don't suggest that my family doesn't matter to me, Harley. Don't ever."

His eyes narrowed. They weren't quite on the same side, after all. She was doing it to look out for her sister and he was looking out for the victim of this whole mess. "Yeah, well I am," he said. "Nell is a... friend of mine." The way he said 'friend' suggested that he really didn't know where he stood with the Earth girl, but the fact that he was risking life and limb for her suggested that she was at least in his good graces. "I'm doing this because I don't believe she's a killer. And if you do, well..." He trailed off for a moment and drew breath. "If you try to go after Nell, Harley, I'm going to have to attack you. It wouldn't be personal, but..." He shrugged, and having said his bit he leaned against the wall. He felt dizzy and drained from the spell of anger.

But even if she was only doing this for sister-dearest, it seemed both Harley and Joshua were cast out of the Fire dormitories. "Great," he muttered, rolling his head. "Fucking Blackthorn. Can't stand that fucking guy..."

[Josh is so... so... -punches wall- Fuck, he's so angry. xD I know this wasn't supposed to be an argument but he's just being difficult and I had to stay in character. & I know he probably took that the wrong way ;D Again, IC.]

Not everyone was out to get him? Not everyone was out to get him? "Don't even fucking go there," he said. He was not yelling now--his tone had dropped to an almost whisper and his hands were shaking. He wanted to throttle her for that comment, and it was really quite alarming. It took every ounce of his self-control not to attack her at that moment. Harley was pushing buttons she probably didn't know existed, and that was never a good idea with him. "You have no fucking idea, so don't you even suggest--" Fuck, was he ever mad. He cut himself off and clenched his jaw, heat absolutely radiating from him now as he started to lose control over what his anger was doing to the elemental atmosphere of the hall. "Don't tell me that people aren't out to fucking get me when they ambush me in the god damned halls, block me from the dormitories, threaten my fucking life all because I took my friend's side in some stupid war that doesn't even make sense to begin with!" He was seething, but the words were spoken in level tones rather than shouted. Don't hurt her, Josh. For fucks sakes, don't go for her. But it was difficult, oh so difficult.

There was an underlying reason why this enraged him, however. She didn't know anything about him, so Harley knew absolutely nothing of the gang that had hunted him down and tried to kill him twice now. She'd never asked where he'd gotten the scars, not that he cared whether she asked. He actually preferred when attention was not called to them, especially the one on his face. He still frequently caught people staring. At any rate, the fact that the gang was still hunting him was the reason for his mistrust of everyone, the reason he was so paranoid. "If you don't like the way I am, I never asked you to stick around," he growled. He'd lost friends before, he wouldn't be surprised if she just stormed off in a rage.

He almost went for her. He really almost did it. In fact, he was halfway through raising an arm to deck her in the face when he forced himself to stop, his arm trembling with the force it took to drop it back to his side. "No, my family aren't in Earth," he hissed slowly. "You know where they are? Where they all are? Fire." He had sided against his parent element in this war, all for Nell. His baby sister was probably going to be a Fire elemental too, as soon as she was old enough to start attending the Academy that is. "I have a little sister too, I'm not as thick as you seem to think." He was starting to get dizzy from the fact that the heat was coming off him in waves, filling the hall and making the air shimmer with it. "I turned on my damn family because I believed Nell was innocent. You can't fucking suggest that your situation is more important." If anything, they were even.

"It's not," he snapped, but he didn't attack her when she grasped his hand. She shoved it away a moment later, however, and once again he found himself with the overwhelming urge to backhand her. Violence was always the way his father dealt with him when he got in Donovan's face and started yelling, and so he almost reacted with what he knew best. "Family matters a lot more to me than you'd think," he snapped. "But it doesn't mean I'd kill a friend for them." Kill for them, maybe. But not over something like this, something so stupid.