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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 28, 2011 18:04:18 GMT -5
A deep frown was situated on Joshua's expression as he folded his arms, shaking his head slightly and pacing. "I don't trust him," he said darkly, speaking of the Fire leader and of the fact that he'd proposed the idea of meeting Nell. Why the hell did he have to meet Nell? If he was having doubts about the war he never should have started it to begin with, and even if he had he should have been willing to drop the order of death without needing to meet with the very girl he'd ordered his element to kill. It wasn't a small issue, death, it was a tough subject and it really shouldn't have been viewed so lightly. What did Blackthorn expect her to do, anyway? Forgive him? "If not for Elaine I'd have sworn it was a trap. Blackthorn's a sneaky bastard."
Of course, Joshua's issues with Alexandre Blackthorn had a personal edge to them as well. The younger boy had kicked him out and made threats, holding his authority over Josh's head and sneering the entire time he was doing so. Josh didn't approve of this, it angered him and made him think about how nice it would be to bash the boy's head off the wall. Maybe that could deflate his over-large ego. But no, Josh had to play nice. Not only because of Elaine and her affection for the prick, but because he figured this might be one of the only solution to ending this war. He wanted it all to be over with and with as little bloodshed on Nell's part as possible. "They said you were supposed to meet him in the leader's room," Josh explained, not meeting Nell's gaze as he muttered. "Something to do with privacy, but I'm coming too. Like I said, I don't trust him."
He exhaled, a harsh and irritated sound. "Normal students aren't told where it is, but I know from twelfth grade. It's the 'supply closet' in the mess hall." Joshua shook his head slightly--it seemed a bit of a daft place to have a leaders meeting, but he knew it was just because no one would really expect that room. Rather than a mass of brooms and mops, it contained a table and a small kitchen space near the back counter with a fridge, microwave, and cupboards. There wasn't much stocked there unless the meeting was official and arranged by the Academy officials themselves--usually just stuff to make coffee and the like. During his time as leader he'd stayed away from the snacks and refreshments unless there was candy. He never passed up the offer of candy.
"I guess we'd better go," he said at last, uncrossing his arms and shoving his hands in his pockets. The effort to avoid killing Alex was going to be a very difficult one, but as long as the boy kept his hands off Nell he figured that he would be alright. Perhaps Elaine could have worked as the mediator all on her own, but he still didn't put it past Alexandre to pull some sneaky move. His powers would be pretty much useless with the older Fire graduate there, though, and if he was stupid enough to lunge for Nell physically then Josh would claim no responsibility for his injuries.
When they reached the room (it seemed they were there first) Joshua sat down immediately, looking tense and irate. "Let's hope this goes well."
[Posting order can be Josh, Nell, Alex, Elaine?]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jul 28, 2011 20:32:02 GMT -5
Nell leaned against the wall, watching as Josh paced, fidgeting like a big cat in a cage at the zoo. She didn’t trust the Blackthorn guy as far as she could throw him either, but she kept this thought to herself and just put up an uneasy smile to hdie the fact that inside she was freaking out. Okay, this is what she had wanted to do in the first place—speak with the leaders and talk things out. But the tension was working its way into her stomach and she hadn’t even met this guy before. Josh made his distaste for Alex apparent, but then there was Elaine. With her smile still brightening her face, Nell agreed. ”Yeah, I trust Elaine too.”
Yes, she trusted Elaine and Josh and hoped that since the girl liked Alex, maybe he wasn’t such a terrible guy. She tried her best not to judge but it was hard to do when the guy was supporting a war aimed at you. But he was only aiding his allies, she kept reminding herself. Which meant the fact that he wanted to speak with her was good news—right? Then she felt Josh’s paranoia seeping into her, making her wonder if this was all just a rouse to finally kill her. War was not a fun state of mind. Josh continued with his gloom and doom demeanor as he informed her about the location. ”I’m sure he doesn’t have any ulterior motives and that he really does just want to talk in private. After all, it’s not like I want to step foor near the Fire dorms and he probably wants to avoid Earth. This room is like neutral ground, right?”
Still, Josh’s suspicions weren’t doing well for her nerves. Nell imagined two little people arguing in her head, one saying how stupid and reckless and dangerous this could be and the other one telling that person to calm his tits. Josh’s sigh broke her from her thoughts, and she said, ”I didn’t even know there was a supply closet.” For one, when she’s in the mess hall her attention is completely commanded by food. For another, she—like most students, she supposed—didn’t even pay mind to the ‘supply closet’. It was one of those inocusous doors that you forget about just as quickly as you look at it. To think that’s where this frightening meeting is just about to take place? It was almost comical. But right now, she didn’t feel like laughing. She felt like running away and never coming back, but that wouldn’t work out very well.
Nell could practically feel the waves of animosity rolling off Josh, and she kept her eye on him. Would he be able to keep his temper under control with the Fire leader? She knew he harbored quite a bit of hostility for the guy who kicked him out of his dorms. And since the graduate was so unpredictable, she was more worried about him moving in to kill Alex. Nell didn’t know if she wanted that to happen yet. She’d just have to wait and see what happened. Hopefully it wasn’t along the lines of a ninja assasin coup. The room was actually pretty nice, and it reminded her of a teacher’s lounge. Where Josh sat immediately upon entering, she stood with her hands rubbing together as she looked around at the room, wondering if she looked as nervous as she felt. Deciding she might as well stop shifting her feet around, she sat close to Josh and waited for Elaine and Alex to arrive.
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Post by alexandre on Jul 28, 2011 21:13:02 GMT -5
Ever since he'd rather impulsively agreed to meet Nell in the leaders room, Alexandre had been regretting it. He didn't even know that Dale was planning to show up, and if he had it would only have made him dread the situation all the more. What the hell had he been thinking, agreeing to meet with the enemy? The other Fire elementals milled about him in the dormitory, with absolutely no knowledge of the fact that their leader was currently sitting amongst them and plotting treachery. God, this was awful. Could he call Elaine up and cancel? She'd kill me, he acknowledged, and even though it wasn't literal the true outcome might even be worse. He didn't think he wanted to go back to their icy state of non-friendship. It had been awkward to avert his eyes from her in class, even though she couldn't see him looking at her. It still felt strange. Everything had felt strange.
Not that it was entirely back to normal. There was still a war going on and he saw the signs of it plaguing his element daily. Another freshman had taken the brunt of the attacks today, and her wounds were severe enough that she'd been sent out to the hospital in Maple Hollow thanks to the fall. Her ankle was shattered and her arm snapped. Would she ever forgive her leaders for starting this war? Probably not. It was the young kids just getting their bearings in the Academy that he really did feel sorry for. Alex may not have been a peace-loving hippie or anything, but his heart wasn't made of ice. He didn't get along with Lucas, but he had younger siblings who he cared about. He cared about his friends, cared about Elaine. He did not care about Nell quite as much--no, not nearly as much--but he at least gave enough of a damn that he would feel some amount of regret for murder. Elaine was right; murder was wrong no matter what the justification.
Speaking of Elaine, he went to find her at the agreed time, perhaps a few minutes late because he was busy dealing with a situation in the dormitories. "I, uh, got a bit held up," he said awkwardly. Hopefully this Nell chick wouldn't assume it was an ambush and have a bunch of her allies hiding in the wings to assault him when he walked into the hall. Elaine's presence as a mediator would also help, or so he believed. That was why she was coming with him, after all. Or was it to stop Alexandre from hurting the supposed murder? He wasn't sure, and he didn't like to dwell too strongly on it. The more he thought about the fact that Elaine might not trust him, the more irritated and antsy he became. "She's probably there already, unless she changed her mind..."
Indeed, it seemed that the door for the leaders room had been left unlocked. He'd done so himself much earlier just in case, for only the elemental leaders possessed the keys--and the staff, of course, but they were not aware of this meeting of enemies. Hostility immediately overcame him when he entered the room, however, realising that his enemy was not alone. "What are you doing here?" he spat in Joshua's general direction, then turned to give Elaine a hard look that was probably lost on her. "Did you know about this?" Clenching his jaw, he sat down stiffly and glared across the table. "Ugh. No one else is showing up to clobber me over the head while I'm not looking, right?" This was going to be worse than he'd thought. "Because if not, I figure we can start."
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Post by marci on Jul 29, 2011 9:41:27 GMT -5
”It's alright.” Came the soft, cool voice. Elaine could not deny she had a knot in her gut, twisting and turning the more she thought about what could go wrong or set Alex or Josh off during the meeting, but somehow, she was calm. The wind student had spent two days worrying and thinking and imagining, but now that it was actually happening, she was steady. Her expression was calm when she heard her friend approach, and it did not change much when he spoke.
A light smile did find her lips. That had sounded almost hopeful, she thought. ”Nell wouldn't change her mind without telling me.” But she didn't say anything further, opting to follow the boy to the meeting room without further speech. And oddly enough, the closer they got, the less emotion she felt. It was like defensive walls had already thrown themselves up in preparation. She knew she would have to be the other who could not be angered by anything if she was going to keep them from killing each other. The distant one. Well, I'm good at it. She thought ruefully.
Things did not get off to a good start. Before Elaine even had time to send a light current of air through the room to get her bearings, Alex's aggressive tones rang out. Then, he (presumably) looked at her and spoke. She shrugged a bit, then nodded, ”Yes, I did. But I couldn't have made a difference either way, so I hardly see how it matters.” Yes, she was definitely distant. Hopefully it would be what they needed, though Elaine sort of wished she could close off all the way.
Taking a deep breath, Elaine moved herself behind the chair Alex had sat in and put a hand on his shoulder. It was a gentle, steadying touch, which she hoped would help him relax a little. ”No, it's just going to be the four of us. And Joshua--” Her tone turned a little bit stern, obviously not only meant for the fire leader's ears, ”--has promised to behave.” Which meant no attacking, no provoking, nothing that would compromise Nell's chances of being acquitted.
[/justify][/size][/blockquote] |
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 29, 2011 15:24:24 GMT -5
Joshua just gave a non-committal huff at her question. "It's supposed to be." But that was only a rule that pertained to meetings between the leaders for the most part. This was a unique situation and besides, he didn't expect Blackthorn to adhere to the rules either way. Joshua was against the entire basis of this meeting. Not because he wanted the war to continue but because he had bad feelings about the way this was going and he didn't think it would end well for anyone. Maybe it was just his pessimism, however, for Nell seemed to be doing absolutely fine with the situation.
The environment seemed to go cold when Alexandre entered the room, and Joshua returned the younger male's glaring with a steady glower. Having the two of them share space was dangerous, but Josh felt it would have been even worse if he'd let Nell meet alone with this boy. True, Elaine would be there, but that wasn't enough for him. Elaine was neutral, on neither side but still supporting Alex enough that Josh felt he'd be the better person to play defensive. "Here to make sure you don't follow through with that promise you made in the mess hall," he spat darkly. How easy it would be to go over there and crack him over the head with something. He'd wanted to do it ever since this guy had launched the war and kicked him out.
Though he was fond of Elaine, the mood turned venomous when she addressed him sternly. "I'm not a child, Elaine, I promised nothing about behaviour," he said. "I'm here to support Nell, and if your little friend over there decides he wants to hurt her I'll gladly give him my two cents." He cast a threatening glare toward Alexandre, watching the Fire leader like a hawk. "You'd better keep your hands off her, Blackthorn," he said. "I don't know what Elaine sees in you, but I certainly don't share her opinions." Given that his anger was proving less and less simple to control, Joshua sighed. "Let's just get this over with?"
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jul 29, 2011 22:02:36 GMT -5
Nell waited patiently for the other two’s arrival, feeling her gut twisting up like a roly poly. If she somehow screwed up during this meeting, she’d be pretty much screwed. This was her one shot of convincing the Fire leader to back down. And then she’d only have to deal with Thunder. But how could she convince him to back out of the war when he’d immediately supported his allies, just like any good Fire leader would.
Her hopes sank low as Alex entered with Elaine and his gaze instantly zoned in on Josh. She wondered if putting those two in a room together was such a good idea, especially since they both seemed ready to attack. Nell was thankful for Elaine’s calmness, though, hoping she would do well as a mediator. Nell really didn’t know what to expect from anyone in this room, and it only proved to make her even more antsy about the situation, even though she kept calm and silent.
Biting her lip as Josh shot back that he wasn’t a child and her stomach sank that much further, thinking about how badly this could turn out. But when he agreed to get it over with, Nell decided it was her time to speak up. She smiled as cheerfully as possible and said a light, ”Uh…hello!” as a greeting to both Alex and Elaine. Not like she could have gotten one in when the two were immediately glaring each other down like two boxers in a ring when Alex had just stepped in. Nell decided that she might as well get to her alibi and whatnot, just to make clear how innocent she was.
”I guess I should start by saying where I was the night of Cynthia Bainbridge’s murder,” she addressed Alex, sounding so official and pedantic it was practically comical. She wondered if this is what she would say if she had to stand on trial for her mother’s murder. But her knowledge of how to handle alibis and confessions and court testimonies came from Boston Legal and Aly McBeal. ”I spent the entire evening in the Earth dorms with my friend, Arielle. It was impossible for me to be even close to where Cynthia was killed. All you have to do was ask anyone who was around the dorms or check any security tapes you may have.” Nell sighed. ”I remember it being said in the mess hall that you had a source, but I don’t understand how that’s possible. If you don’t mind me asking, just who is this person?” It wasn’t said sarcastically or anything, she was simply curious as to how there could be a source when she didn’t do anything.
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Post by alexandre on Jul 31, 2011 0:09:05 GMT -5
The atmosphere of the room went from bad to worse, and Alexandre remained stiff as a board. Why the hell did I even agree to this? There was no trace of his usual cheerful and friendly demeanour as he glared daggers as his enemies. Folding his arms, he took a deep breath and tried to resist the urge of attacking Joshua, who was very clearly thinking similar things about him. How was this bastard ever my ally? Well, it wasn't like the Fire element would ever fully accept Dale again. Good, he thought with venom, then flicked his glaring gaze over to Nell.
"There aren't any security tapes," he pointed out with a frown. He had never known a castle to have security tapes, really. The electricity was powered by generators that the Thunder elementals managed themselves (the staff, anyway) and it was heated similarly by the Fire elementals. Security had never been implemented before--didn't this girl realise that? Of course, Alex didn't know that she was a late starter. "Do you have the names of any of the people who saw you?" It was almost like a freaking police interrogation, but these were questions he really just had to ask.
She questioned him on their source and Alexandre just couldn't help but think negatively of her--wasn't he the one who was supposed to be asking the questions, here? "That's no business of yours," he said with a frown. Then he remembered what this entire meeting was supposed to be about, and Alexandre faltered as he thought deeper into it. Weren't they supposed to be getting to the bottom of this? Working his jaw for a moment, he sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. The Thunder elementals wouldn't say, only that they trusted him, her, whomever, they wouldn't even give a gender." He didn't like talking so openly about the dealings of the leaders, but he figured this was what Elaine had wanted from this whole meeting.
His expression hadn't lightened once, and when he swept a blue gaze around the room his eyes were cold. He had been pushed into this and he really wasn't enjoying it, but he was seriously doubting himself. This girl seemed like a total coward (no offence to Nell or anything, but...) and she certainly seemed determined to prove her innocence. Was it just an act, though, or was she serious about it? "Did you ever have any contact with Cynthia Bainbridge?" he asked as if accusing her.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 4, 2011 20:44:37 GMT -5
Nell blushed. She believed at least some security measures would be in place, so the suggestion of tapes were her idea of such security. But the embarrassment passed quickly enough. She bit her lip in thought. Well, she know she probably noticed and waved to a few of her friends in the dorms andspoke with a few of them. ”Well, there’s Arielle Kaiya Francis, as I said. And then quite a few students passed through and mot likely saw me, and I could write their names down, if you like.” She didn’t care what she had to do to prove her innocence and get this war over with. But even if Fire stepped, it didn’t mean Thunder would.
She raised her eyebrows, her usual expression when she picked up on someone being rude. This wasn’t some interrogation, if that’s what he was getting at. And she didn’t want to be treated like a suspect. Even though her defense mechanisms told her to say something sarcastic in response, she held her tongue. Nell had more patience than that and wouldn’t let the Fire leader get to her. After all, his apparent dislike of her wasn’t the worst she’d ever experienced. She could deal with it. She nodded simply at his reply, as vague and grudging as it was. Well, that didn’t help. Nell really wanted to get to the bottom of this, and knowing the source’s name would help a lot. But she guessed she wasn’t going to get that from Alexandre.
Her arms still crossed in the guarding-position, she observed the Fire leader. At least she didn’t feel half as nervous now. As a matter of fact, she felt a little more confident, even when he ased a question that she didn’t know how to answer. If he knew they had had some problems in the past, would that make him suspicios? Even if, she didn’t want to lie to him. But it’d be best not to go into detail. Nell stated simply, ”I’ve met her before. Never really talked to her though.” And that was the truth. If she revealed that the girl had bulled her, then that would probably have given her a motive in Alexandre’s eyes, and that wouldn’t have been good. Then, she decided to say, ”Honestly, we didn’t like each other much, but I would have never laid a hand on her. I wouldn’t have any reason to.” In fact, she felt great sympathy for the girl’s friends and family. What happened to Cynthia was horrible, and if she was actually there, she would have done anything to prevent it, even if the two didn’t get along.
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Post by alexandre on Aug 5, 2011 20:39:58 GMT -5
[FUCK IT, I'm going to cheat and end it. This thread is so... ugh.]
Alexandre listened to her, arms folded and lips pulled down into a scowl for most of the time. He wasn't really sure what to believe. Should he take Shepherd's word for it and believe that she was innocent, or should he grill her further about where she'd been and what she'd done. He wasn't the most well-versed in interrogations, either, and it wasn't like he'd been thinking this through as much as he should have. He hadn't prepared a list of relevant questions that he should be asking her, he hadn't thought of how much work might need to be put into investigations, and he was just all-around unprepared for this. It was starting to show, much to his embarrassment. He was forced to look away for a moment to recollect himself.
On top of that, the constant glare of the older Fire elemental was making him uncomfortable. He was cocky and arrogant, but he was pretty sure that he didn't stand a chance against Dale if he was attacked. What would happen if he came to the conclusion that Nell was still guilty? Would that call off this uncomfortable truce? Probably, he acknowledged, and this didn't help his nerves. He didn't appear all that nervous as he continued to scowl, Nell going on about how she had known Cynthia but not well, but his worry was definitely there. Would Elaine be able to sense it because of the fact that he wasn't talking as much as usual? She better not say anything, he thought.
He asked a couple more questions about how he might be able to get in contact with those Earth students, then leaned back slightly in the chair and went into a state of thought. Surveying the Earth girl, she seemed a bit more confident and less unsettled than he'd expected. Did that mean that she could be guilty? Most Earth elementals were flighty and skittish. (This wasn't true, of course, but Alexandre was a believer in prejudice). Then again, she really didn't have the aura of 'murderer' about her, even if she wasn't what he expected. What does a murderer even look like? Fuck! He was developing a headache with all of this thought and over-thought.
Then he thought of the fact that the other two in the room believed Nell, as well. He hadn't expected it from the dark and explosive Fire graduate, seeing as Earth was completely the opposite of the usual 'type' that would hang around someone like that. And Elaine trusted her, too. Elaine was subject to a lot of cruel things at this school, and her friends generally seemed to be trustworthy people. But she was also friends with Dale, so maybe her judgement was impaired. What should I do? In the end, it came down to one thing--he didn't want this war any more. And maybe he could believe Nell, maybe he couldn't, but he wanted this to end.
"Alright," he said at long last, shattering the tension and silence. "I'll call it off. I'll convince my element otherwise. Goodbye." Before they could question his decision, Alexandre stood up and left.
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